Leyline Expedition Force
by redemption2
Summary: The long-awaited sequel to StrikerS: Pursuit of Perfection.  Three years after Soran's revenge, a new chapter begins in their lives.  Touma Avenir's journey starts, and Soran's past begins to reveal itself.  Ch 10/11: The church battle was just the beginning of Touma's pain.  The Knight and the Enigma clash swords.
1. Chapter 1

Leyline Expedition Force

Magical Lyrical Nanoha Force 1

Three years. It had been three years after the end of the JS Incident and Soran's revenge. Three years since Section 6 had disbanded, and everyone had moved on. Teana went on to be trained by Fate to be an Enforcer. Erio and Caro joined the Alzas Environmental Research team, and Nanoha went on hiatus to raise her daughter, Vivio.

Subaru's family grew by leaps and bounds. She and Ginga both gained a family in the converted cyborgs, four of Scaglietti's Twelve. Ginga and they formed a team, a force to be reckoned with. Subaru had joined the TSAB rescue squad, and Soran, after taking on the Takamachi name, stayed with the research and development team of Intelligent Devices as they, in turn, worked to regain the use of his arm. Though even in this era of peace, still there was tragedy. And it was one such tragedy that found two people in an unlikely place in an unlikely bond.

Subaru stared at the wood under the pot, the flame crackling and waving with the slightest breeze. Surrounding her was a private campsite. A tent, a sleeping bag, a table she made by hand, and an axe. This mostly underdeveloped dimension of Vizen was perfect for what she set out to do. The wind picked up, and the fire began to expand into a roar.

"_It's coming down!" A fireman yelled, pointing up at the high rise apartment building, its top two thirds consumed by fire and smoke._

_Subaru, in her Fire Jacket mode, gasped as she turned around, a young girl in her arms. "No! There's still more people on the roof!" She shoved the girl into the hands of the nearest fireman and turned around._

"_Nakajima! Don't! It's too dangerous!"_

"_I don't care! Mach Caliber, Barrier Jacket Setup!"_

"_YES MASTER."_

_Her uniform melted away until her Barrier Jacket returned, her roller boots running full throttle as the Wing Road spread under them, wrapping around the building in an upwards spiral. The glowing blue lit up the smoke as she tore up the ramp. Pieces of the building began to crumble, puncturing holes in the magical force and it began to bend._

"_Kuso!" She hissed as she ducked and weaved. Another rung of the spiral and Subaru heard the screams. As she burst through the smoke, she saw them, two women and two scores of young children all beginning to slide. The pitching building bent and shattered her Wing Road, throwing her off as she landed on the apex of the roof._

_There was no stopping the collapse. She knew that. Everyone did. But what she didn't expect was how fast the angle changed. Mach Caliber tore down the slanted roof, reaching for the hands that stretched out to her, trying to swoop them up in the path she left behind, but each seemed just out of her reach. "NO!" She cried as they all disappeared over the opposite edge, never to be seen alive again. Only one small child remained, partially impaled on an antenna. Resolute to save that one, she dove with tears in her eyes, snapping the rod off at the point of entry with her Oscilating Breaker. She leapt off the roof without another thought. "Mach Caliber!"_

_Her boots gem shone in a bright turquoise. "WING ROAD RESTORED." The intelligent device cast a course straight and away from the danger zone, and she coasted to a stop by the medical team._

_Subaru collapsed with the girl in her arms. Technicians gave the little one oxygen, and took her vitals, but once examining the wounds, they shook their heads. "No! No there's something! There must be something!" She begged them, pleaded them, to no avail._

_A tug on her wristband made her stop. "Mommy." The girl whispered, a glaze in her eyes. "Mommy, I'm scared."_

_Subaru swallowed. "I… I know, s-sweetie. But it's okay." She sobbed. "Mommy's here. Mommy's here." She cradled the little one as she heaved. The girl sighed into the mask one last time before it was all over. "I wasn't strong enough. I wasn't strong enough!"_

A tear ran down her cheek, just before she heard a rustle in the bush. She took a deep breath and smiled after she rose, stretching. "I've already killed my lunch, and nothing around here likes the smell of fresh meat. Unless it's a hungry kid." She turned to the forest behind her. "Isn't it about time you came out? You've been watching for days." A young boy emerged in tattered clothes too small for him. He looked away in shame, his dirty-blonde hair covering his eyes. Subaru blinked. He had a familiar air about him that she couldn't place. A knife fashioned out of a rock was gripped tightly in his hand. "You can put that away. I'm not going to hurt you."

He just clenched his fist tighter. "How did you know?"

"You snapped some twigs in the brush." Her shadow touched him and he leapt back. She was unfazed as she held out her hand to him in friendship. "Come on, there's nothing to fear from me."

The boy was afraid. Survival was something he had learned hard. Every fiber of his being told him to run. "I…." His stomach growled loudly, and he blushed.

Subaru grinned. "Come on then. I happened to make some extra for dinner." She swooped her hand towards the pot, which looked about the size of a bathtub.

"Is-isn't there a limit of 'extra'?" He sweatdropped.

As it turned out, they needed that giant amount of extra. Not only was the boy far more hungry than he thought, but he was stunned to find how much the young woman could put back. Through mouthfuls of stew, Subaru spoke. "So how long have you been living out here?"

"All my life."

"I mean… like this. A drifter."

"I've lost track. Probably a year."

"A result of painful circumstances, I'm guessing."

"You could say that. And you?"

"Well, let's just say we're kindred spirits in painful circumstances." Subaru's spoon clacked against her bowl as she stretched. "So what's your name?"

"T-Touma. Touma Avenir."

"Well, I'm glad to meet you, Touma. I'm…"

"SU!" A voice yelled out from the direction of the setting sun. A silhouette appeared against the glowing orb, a flowing cape flapping in the breeze.

Touma shot up and leapt back as Subaru whirled around in shock. "Uso!" The figure dropped down in front of them, the rings on his ankles ceasing their glow. His black hair with green undertones was extremely windblown, and the staff on his back blinked with exhaustion. "Soran, how…."

Before she could finish her question, he swooped her into a tight embrace. "When I heard, I had to see you, be here for you."

"Soran." She sighed as she melted into him, a tear running down her relieved face. She broke from his arms just enough to angle her lips to meet his in a longing kiss. He noticed movement from the corner of his eye, and realizing they had company, he gave a quick "ahem" with his mouth shut. "Hnn? Oh!" She spoke into his mouth before they separated. "Touma, it's okay, this is my boyfriend, Soran. He works with me in the Time-Space Administration Bureau. Don't be scared, I know he's missing an arm at the moment…."

"Um…" Soran raised his left hand, slightly paler than the rest of his skin.

She beamed. "You got it back! Shari and Shamal did it after all!" Subaru held up his arm and checked the joints. "It's got a better reaction time than your old one! Tell me everything, Soran!"

"Geez, Su-chan!" Soran sweatdropped. "At least let me say hello first, Christ!" He knelt down to Touma's level and reached forward his human hand. "Hello Touma, I'm Soran, Soran B. Takamachi." He smiled with conviction. He too saw something in this boy that he couldn't place.

"Su-… chan?" Touma looked at the blue-haired woman.

"Unh. We got kind of interrupted. I'm Subaru Nakajima, but you can call me Su-chan if you want, provided I can call you Touma-kun." She stuck her tongue out.

"Unh. And Soran-san?"

"Why can't I have a pet name?" He fretted a little, but that quickly dissolved. "Sure, if that's what you'll remember."

"Unh." He nodded. "Su-chan and Soran-san." He yawned. The two adults shared a look and were immediately in agreement with their thoughts.

Touma slept in genuine comfort for the first time in recent memory, borrowing Subaru's sleeping bag as the couple looked on. "He's an orphan." Subaru said quietly. "I haven't gotten it all yet, but it looks like he's been alone for quite some time."

"Was he trying to steal food?"

"I'm not completely sure, but it's fine. He's not a bad kid."

"Unh. Speaking of kids." Soran handed her a blue crystal pendant. "This one was worried about you."

"PLEASE DON'T GO OFF LIKE THAT, BUDDY." Mach Caliber blinked.

"I'm sorry… I just…."

"She told me everything, Su."

"WE WANT THE SAME THING."

"To become stronger, and protect those precious things in our lives." Subaru put the clasp around her neck. "So this is how you found out where I was. But I didn't tell anyone where I was going, not even Mach Caliber."

"MC, tactical development please." Soran smiled as a visor materialized in front of the girl's eyes, displaying probabilities and a dimensional map, marked with her destination. "I upgraded her with the latest AI tech. She can predict and strategize faster than any human could. It's one piece of good that came out of JorZwei's existence." The visor dissolved. "After I installed it, she weighed the variables and pointed the way. I just followed."

"You always did have a way with IDs." She sighed. "Thank you for bringing her to me, and I'm sorry I left you behind, MC. You can head back tomorrow and let everyone know I'm fine, ok?"

"Head back? Su, the next Slipstream flight to Mid-Childia is in three weeks. I'm heading back with you."

"But!" She was about to object, but grunted in disapproval.

Soran balled his left fist. "I've been without an arm for the last two years, three if you include my time in stasis. I need to do some training to get back to normal." He turned to her. "Maybe bulk up a little?" He winked.

"Soran…."

"And I don't think he'd make that good of a training buddy at first." He motioned to Touma.

Subaru sighed. "Well, I'm not winning this one. Just don't get in the way of my training regimen, all right?"

"Yes ma'am."

The next three weeks flew by with a rapid pace. Touma elected to stick around, and eventually began to train on and off with each of them. As they opened themselves to him, he opened to them, and after splashing around in the lake, he saw something in his reflection he thought he'd forgotten, his own smile. In those three weeks, he had gotten much closer to anyone than he ever had before. He joined in activities, helped with the chores, and even assisted in pulling pranks. It was the closest thing he had to a family.

When the campsite was torn down, and the two were all packed to leave, Touma's heart sank. The happiness would not continue past today. However… "Touma." Subaru called out to him. As he raised his head, the two of them held out their hands to him. "Let's go, together." With a wide smile and a glimmer of hope, he took those hands, and said farewell to the planet of his birth.

Once in the Administrated Worlds, Subaru got to work, calling her family and getting information, while Soran contacted their separate commanders and informed them about a short extension to their leave. They wound up in front of a woman that recognized Subaru straight away, and gave her a hug with happy tears in her eyes. This was the orphanage that first took the sisters in, before they could officially be adopted by the Nakajima family, a place Subaru had fond memories of. The children behind her looked on at the new arrival with curiosity. They greeted the shy boy with open arms, and feeling overwhelmed he followed them, with calls of farewell and promises to visit as often as possible.

As the sun rose on a new day, Soran and Subaru walked towards the Dimensional Shuttle port in somber reflection. He balled his fist. "I've got a bad taste in my mouth."

"Unh…" She responded softly.

"You don't want to leave it like that either, do you?"

"Of course not…." She bit her lip. "But what can we do? Dad already has already has six children now. I can't just ask him to add one more."

"I don't think we should leave him there…. Even if it's a safe place for him, it's not like we can visit often. It's too far away…." Soran's face scrunched up in thought.

His watch beeped, and an audio window with Vivio's face came up. "Sora-nii, are you coming to dinner at home tonight?"

"Crap! That's what I forgot!" Soran grumbled. "Sorry Vivi-chan, we got really delayed on the way back. Tell my sis to go ahead and start without me."

"Uuuuh…." Vivio whined. "Nanoha-mama is late again too…. Scrya-sensei had a meeting with her."

"I'm really sorry Vivi-chan. I'll make it up to you, I promise." He bowed, though she couldn't see him. The connection cut at the same time a light went off above his head. "That's it!"

Two years later….

"Soran-kun, thanks for coming on such short notice. Sorry for bringing you in like that." Hayate Yagami's hair had grown long, and she stood an extra inch taller than when he last saw her in person. He took her outstretched hand in greeting.

"Please, Commander, don't apologize for something like that. I was in the neighborhood anyway." He took a seat after she gestured to him.

"I'm going to be quick about it all the same. Forgive me for this." A photograph appeared between them of a mage covered in blood, his body rife with cuts. "He was an A-Rank mage, an envoy to a non-administered dimension. The city he was in was decimated. No one was left alive."

Soran swallowed. "The black box. What did the device's black box have in it?"

She sighed. "The black box was wiped and reprogrammed by the attackers."

A picture with SOUND ONLY on it appeared. "To all of you who created us and condemned us, we offer this place as a warning. The Huckbein is the poison that will destroy the world. Do not interfere further."

The screen closed. "2,000 dead. Those are the numbers, and if my intuition is right, this is just the start."

Soran balled his fist. "Huckbein… the poison that will destroy the world…."

"Soran, I'm bringing back Section 6." He raised his head in surprise. "Considering the speed and scope of this… extermination… that mage didn't even have a chance. I'm putting through a transfer to have you back in my division."

"What about the others? Nee-chan… I mean, Nanoha, Fate, and the others?"

"They're all currently on other assignments, and will sign on once they become available. You were the first one without an assignment, but the higherups keep dragging their feet on the paperwork. Is there a reason for that?"

Soran rolled his eyes. "The brass keeps pushing me to train others in Casters, and I've been ducking them."

"Didn't Fate do a report on the dangers of Casters last year?"

"That only made them want it more." He sighed. "I imagine they're pretty pissed after the message I sent them last month."

Hayate read off a piece of paper on her desk. "In a message entitled 'Lesson Plan', the subordinate attached a file that contained what can only be described as the sound of a very juicy fart when presented to the TSAB council." She gave him a disappointed look.

"Do you realize how many beans I had to eat to get one of that magnitude? I worked hard on that reply."

Hayate shook her head. "One of these days, that brazen attitude is going to get you thrown in the brig. I'll push through your transfer, provided you don't push through any other 'attachments'."

"By your command." He stood and saluted. "It's an honor to work with you again, Commander."

She returned it. "For your first assignment, head to the Interdimensional Archive and do some research about Huckbein and this poison. Send a report to Reinforce Zwei for review."

"Yes ma'am. I'm heading that way anyway."

She winked. "I know."

Soran entered the vast chamber filled with books wall to wall, floor to ceiling. Some were floating freely in midair. "Oi, Yuuno, you in this mess somewhere?"

"Up here, in the L's." A voice called back to him.

He pushed off of the floor and the antigravity took hold of him. In this place was all the documented knowledge of the administrated worlds, and some from outside of it. It was here that Yuuno and Arf found about Soran's heritage.

Soran floated to a halt in the L section and peered in, seeing Yuuno's signature pointy ponytail about a third of the way in. "What are you looking for in the Ls?"

"Listening-devices."

"What?"

"Listening-devices."

"What?"

Yuuno tilted back, an incredulous look on his face. "Har har." He pushed out of the alcove and into the main hall, clasping hands with Soran. "So what brings you here? The usual?"

"In part. The other part is I'm on assignment from Yagami-taicho. Huckbein and 'The poison that will destroy the world'." Yuuno typed it into his terminal.

"Hmm… I'll have to do some digging. That last one might be a bit tough. Have to go through folklore for that one probably. Anything else?"

"Darkmatter. My own personal search on that one. Call it a hunch." As Yuuno typed it in, he looked around. "Is he in the usual place?"

"Yep, still in the archeology wing. I never would have thought he'd take to it so enthusiastically. He's even better at it than I was back in the day."

"Back in the day, you were a ferret." Soran pushed off and floated towards archeology.

"Shut up."

Soran smirked as he floated through the hall, realizing he could easily navigate it with his eyes closed. Subaru could too, with the amount of times they'd been here. He landed in the gravity-restored zone and his heels clacked against the ground, echoing. He rounded the corner to find a head of dirty-blonde hair inspecting a rock and some dirt on a holo-projector. "Hello Soran-san." He said without looking up.

"… How did…."

"You've come here every week for the past two years. Don't you think I would recognize your footsteps by now? I can even recognize Su-chan's." He looked up as the projector shut down. The teen that turned around was Touma, now fourteen, a proud and tall young man with bright eyes and an even brighter future. He walked up to Soran and gave him a hug. "It's been busy around here."

"It's about to get a lot busier for me." Soran pulled out a chair. "They're reforming Section 6. I just got my first set of orders today. I might not get to visit as much pretty soon. That includes Su and Nee-chan. We're all going to be called into this project eventually."

"Oh…."

"Are you going to be okay with that? You know we still care about you, right?"

"Of course! It's just… I dunno, I'm gonna miss you."

"Well I guess we did kind of spoil you a bit." Soran ruffled his hair. "Coming in on time every week so you would expect it to happen. We should have thrown a few more curves in there to prep you for this. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Soran-san. I know how things go. Yuuno-sensei has shown me a lot."

"He tells me that you're better at archeology than when he was fourteen."

"At fourteen, he was a ferret."

"Shaddup." Yuuno grumbled as he entered the room, with books and data pads in his arms. "Honestly, is this what you two talk about behind my back?" He slammed them onto the table. "Touma, this is…."

"Classified, I get it. I'm gone." Touma picked up the projector. "Soran, lunch later?"

"As if I'd say no?" He did a mock salute before Touma rounded the corner.

"He's a good kid. Always eager to help." Yuuno trailed off in thought before turning to the task at hand. "I've got good news and bad news. The bad news is that Huckbein isn't in the library."

"No history huh? It's probably a family name or something. I'll have to check the world registries, but if it's an un-administered world…" Soran bit his lip. "What's the good news?"

Yuuno pointed to the pile. "That's all the documents that have 'the poison that will destroy the world' word for word. I got so many results I decided to hold off on the variations for now. Curiously enough, your Darkmatter book came up with it too."

Soran blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah, in the prologue, no less." He picked up the book and flipped it to the correct page, pointing to the passage as he slid it under Soran's nose. "'Regarded as the poison that will destroy the world of science, proving or disproving its existence has been extremely difficult.' I should point out this particular book was published before darkmatter was found."

"Hmm." Soran flipped through it quickly.

"Oh, as a bonus..." He pulled out a crystal from his pocket and placed it into his interface watch. "You remember when you came in to tell the Starwind history?"

He hit play, and a slightly younger Soran started talking on the screen. "That was the last I ever heard or saw of them. They said the Leyline was allowing them to talk with me, but it might have just been my own hallucination. I dunno."

Soran paused it, slightly annoyed. "What about it?"

"Look what got auto-linked by the database." Yuuno smirked as he brought up the closed captions, Leyline in green text, underlined. Soran stared at it, moving slightly forward, the word almost magnetic to him. The screen fizzled out as Yuuno popped out the crystal, tossing it at him. "Have fun with that." Soran didn't utter a word as he gazed at the crystal in his palm. "It looks like you'll be needing them for quite a while, so I'll arrange for those books as an unlimited release for TSAB use. But the crystal I'll need back next week." Yuuno walked away, his hands behind his head.

"Ah…."

"Soran-san…. Soran-san!" Touma's voice got louder.

"What?" He raised his head in surprise, looking around quickly.

"I asked what you thought about it. Are you okay?" Touma took a drink of soda.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something that came up with Yuuno. What was the question?"

Touma sighed. "I said Su-chan and company are pushing to have me adopted again."

"Well, that's not bad is it? Su, Yuuno, and I raised you essentially. Any one of us would be proud to have you take our name. And you know me, I took the Takamachi name, even though I wasn't adopted by her, because Nanoha has always treated me as a younger brother."

"I just don't want to impose, you know? I mean, when you look at Su-chan's family… that's a lot of sisters I'd be gaining. When I go to dinner with them I feel like estrogen is dripping down the walls."

Soran snorted. "And it's Defcon 3 when they get their periods." He took a bite of his sandwich and swallowed before responding. "Well, what do YOU want, Touma? It's your life and your choice in the end."

"I… don't really know what I want yet…." He poked his chopsticks at a lump of rice on his plate. "I care a lot about you guys. You saved me. But to join a family that big out of having nothing… I dunno. But before I do choose, there is something I do want."

"Talk to me, buddy. Name it." Soran leaned forward on his elbows. It wasn't often that Touma would voice his opinion like this.

"I want to travel. I want to be an archeologist and a photographer. I want to go out on a journey, and do it alone. Maybe, just maybe, I can find my own answer when I'm out there." Touma turned towards the window, a glisten in his eye and a smile on his face as he said it.

Soran smirked as he let out a sigh through his nose. "Somehow I had a feeling that's what you were going to say. You've been studying Archeology for nearly a year and a half. But before you can go on a journey like that, you need to do some survival training. For the next six months, make it a core concentration. And don't stay in the library, actually apply that knowledge and do it for real."

"Six months? I've been doing that on the side for four already, so only two more months left?"

"Nope. Six months starting today. That will give me the time to create your Device."

Touma blinked in disbelief. "Soran-san, you mean…."

Soran dangled his keys, the three glowing orbs clacking together gently. "Divine Trinity, my partner in all things. I'm going to make a custom Intelligent Device just for you, a partner to match your strengths and weaknesses."

"Soran-san…."

Soran sat down at his new desk, the setting sun off to the side in his window. "Now… to get to work on that schematic." He pulled out a tablet program and started drawing with his finger, a large staff with magic amplifiers. He wiped it out after shaking his head. "He's not a combat mage, you idiot." He drew a smaller device with a standby mode. "What the hell am I doing? Two modes? You don't need two modes if you're not combat! I need to rethink this from scratch." He sighed as he stood, looking out the window.

A knock came on his door and it slid open. "Yaho ~desu. Reinforce Zwei, delivering the research material from the Interdimensional Archive."

"Oh, thanks, Rein. It's sure been a-" He turned around.

"Un-sho ~desu." She grunted as she dropped the books on his desk and looked up from them into his eyes.

They stayed like that for a moment in silence. "Y-you're humongous."

Her cheeks puffed out and a vein appeared on her forehead. "For your information, I'm a size zero ~desu!"

"Eh? No, I mean you used to be able to use my hand as a bed! What happened?"

"Oh this?" She twirled around, giving him a cutsey wink. "Having an XO that can't hold your paperwork was getting tough on Hayate-chan ~desu. So… I went full size ~desu!"

"Yeah, but you're still pretty damn short." Soran sweatdropped.

The vein reappeared again. "You've been hanging around that ass Guillium too much ~desu!"

"Sorry, sorry." He placed his hand on her head. "In either case it's good to see you again, though now there's more of you to see."

"Unh." She nodded. "So do you have anything for me so far ~desu?"

"Well, I do have one thing. Huckbein isn't in any historical records. As you can see, the 'poison that will destroy the world' is going to take some more time to compile." He motioned to the pile.

"That many, ~desu?"

"Thousands of years of folklore for hundreds of worlds. Quite honestly, I think I might be getting off easy on this one."

"Well, take your time, ~desu. Hayate-chan wants as much on this as possible ~desu." She did a quick salute before heading to the door. "Oh, and Soran-kun…." She turned around. "Do you know anything about a Leyline ~desu?"

Soran stood a little straighter. "You're the second person today to mention that word. Why are you asking?"

"Well, I am the administrating entity for the Book of the Azure Sky. When Hayate and I were conducting training exercises one day, I found a weird sentence ~desu. It's not a part of a spell or anything, and I never noticed it before ~desu."

"What was the sentence?"

"Um… well…" The book materialized in front of her. "'From whence the Leyline must return the Leyline, grown and wise.' Now that I think about it, it might be a kind of poem ~desu."

The man looked over the girl's shoulder as she pointed it out to him. "But it's obviously incomplete."

"You know something about this stuff, right ~desu?"

Soran shook his head. "Not really. My folks mentioned it on occasion, but I never understood the context. You're saying it doesn't have any other significance?"

"Not that I can tell. It's not a part of any other spells, so it's got to be something else ~desu."

Soran's brow lowered as he thought. "How come Yagami-taicho hasn't seen this before?"

"Eh? This is my book ~desu. Hayate-chan has her own, the Book of the Night Sky."

Soran blinked. "Really? Was it always that way?"

"Hai ~desu. It's Azure Sky has been mine ever since I was… born…." Her voice trailed off. "But the Book of Darkness was all one piece ~desu. The book was split into two pieces because it was trying to administrate too much at once, which is what caused the corruption in the first place ~desu." Her head shot up. "Masaka…!"

Soran echoed her thoughts. "Hayate might have the other part of this poem!" He turned to his watch. "But she's gone for the day…."

"Well, it's not like it's a priority, ~desu. We can ask her any time. How about I remind you about it next time you see us ~desu?"

"Yeah, you're right about the priorities, Rein. We've got a mass murderer on the loose and we're wasting time with a word? Let's work on that another day."

"Hai ~desu." She said as she left, giving a salute before the door closed.

Soran stretched before checking his watch. "Oh shi-!" He whirled around, finding the city lights on, and the sky black. "Wow, I really pulled one tonight." He stood up and reached for his terminal. "And I've created more challenges than solutions for myself… but I think that in the end, he'll be just what Touma needs." A small rectangular device no bigger than a man's thumb dangled off of two black chords and a lens in the center. The screen disappeared.


	2. Chapter 2

Leyline Expedition Force 2

_A beautiful woman with long, unkempt black hair looked on as a boy blew out the candles on his birthday cake, making it official that he had been alive for a decade. A tear ran down her cheek. As she wiped it, she realized that the boy was staring at her. "Mom… why are you crying?"_

"_I'm sorry, Soran." She sighed. "I'm not crying because I'm sad. I'm very happy, and very grateful. The Leyline allowed me one gift, the ability to have a baby, which was taken from me long ago. And now here you are, ten years later, the miracle I never thought I could have. I'm so very, very happy, Soran." She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him tight against her chest as she sniffled. "So very happy."_

Soran opened his eyes, groggy as he stared at the line the sun was casting across his vision. "The Leyline…."

The man groaned as he got out of bed. The exhausted look in his eyes never changed from the shower, to the sink, to when he put on his uniform. He eyed the coffee pot with his mug in his hand and shook his head. "I'm gonna need the strong stuff today." After locking his door, he went down to the parking garage, where inexplicably parked among all the cars was a giant red spaceship. He entered the boarding platform and pounded his fist on the airlock door.

On the other side, a pink cylinder slid to a stop in front of the window. It activated some speakers on the outside. "_Good morning Captain_." The room shook, and with it, Soran's brain.

"Volume! Volume!" Soran covered his ears. "My head hurts enough as it is!" He pounded his mug against the side. "Trine Special." A metal pipe ejected from the side, and a black slop slithered into his awaiting cup. He chewed it as it went down, and paused as he let the sludge ease itself into his stomach with an audible plop. "That's the motor oil I was looking for!" He said, his face visibly better.

"_Captain, why must you treat me as a glorified Mr. Coffee?_"

"What's wrong Gillium, I thought you wanted to relax."

"_But this is too relaxing. I only stay in my ship, not doing anything, not learning anything._"

"Welcome to retirement." He toasted the AI as he took another sip/bite out of the coffee.

"_Please sir, give me some other purpose to accomplish._"

Soran rolled his eyes. "You want another purpose, eh?"

"_Yes, Captain. Anything will do._"

"_Me and my big Vox Servo._" Gillium said as he sat on Soran's desk, a stack of papers under him.

"Hey, you said you wanted something to do, and my office is a bit on the drafty side, so you make a nice paperweight."

"Yaho ~desu!" The door slid open as Rein crossed the threshold. She stopped cold as she saw the pink cylinder, her hand still in the air.

"_H-Humongous…_" Gillium said quickly before her fist connected with him.

Without even looking up from his computer, Soran lifted his finger and a glowing ball attached to Gillium, halting his crash course into the wall and returning him gently to the desk. "Why does everyone say that ~desu?" She let out a sigh. "Soran-kun, are you ready yet, ~desu?"

"For the briefing, yeah I've been ready for some time now. But before that, could I get some input on this?" He motioned to his screen, which had a 3D model of the drawing he had made last week.

"Hnn?" She cocked her head as she looked over his shoulder. "Is this a custom ID ~desu?"

"Ah. It's just a concept right now though."

"This is for that child, right ~desu?"

Soran nodded. "He wants to be an archeologist, most likely a freelancer. I'm trying to make a good partner for him, but as you can see, it's slow going. Right now all I've got is that he has a camera. That being said, I don't know where to go from here. I want to add some kind of tripod, but Touma's magical power is too limited to materialize one."

"Well, why don't you borrow a page from Raising Heart's latest upgrade ~desu? She's basically independent now with her own levitation generators, so why don't you add them to the clasps ~desu? I'm sure they could fit ~desu."

"That just might work…" He scratched his chin. "Yeah, in fact that definitely would work!"

"What were you planning on using for the basis of the AI ~desu? Not Jormangund, I hope ~desu."

"Trust me, I'm not that stupid. I haven't worked it out yet, but it will probably have to be from an observational unit. I also need a higher degree of interactivity than what's currently available, just in case Touma needs someone to talk to when they're out all alone."

"You've got your work cut out, don't you ~desu?"

"I gave myself six months, but if we don't reach a breakthrough in AI tech before then, I'm going to have to start over with something far less streamlined." He sighed before saving the file and stretching. "Let's get this briefing on." He grabbed Gillium and his report before heading out the door, Rein shortly following.

"Well…" Hayate's brow twitched slightly, looking at the pink can with eyes. "What do I owe the pleasure (?) of this visit?" He sat on her desk at chest level.

"The Star is currently the fastest intercept ship ready for immediate sortie, and Gillium is the controlling mechanism of the ship, lest it has Rein as an administrative." Soran said matter-of-factly. "What I know, he needs to know. I don't want to spend an extra hour explaining it to him every time we're trying to go on assignment."

"I still don't like the fact that he kept looking at Rein naked." Hayate grumbled.

"_Captain, her biometrics appear to indicate a form of jealousy._" Hayate's fist met his chasis, and once again, Soran saved him from becoming an indentation in the woman's wall.

"Hey, metal puck, speakers off, microphones on. Clear?" Silence permeated the room. "Well, that's better. Soran, what have you got for me?"

"Yes ma'am. Regarding the phrase 'poison that will destroy the world,' there are multiple folklores and history on the phrase alone. I've gone into detail within the report. Some of it was not even actual poison that was spoken of. Many ancient Earth religions referred to other religions as being a poison, specifically Christianity to Judaism. There have been of course some that have spoken about actual poisons for which there is no cure, such as the synthesized version of the blowfish poison, or the HIV virus, which had been cured after the book was published.

"That being said, I've noticed a common theme with most of them, in which poison is a metaphor for an idea or concept. The perception is that this idea undermines common practices, and people that are set in their ways or have control over the common practices. Those that profit off of it would stop at nothing to stop this poison from spreading, which, in most of the fables I've seen, wind up actually improving the system more than harming it."

Hayate frowned. "I'm familiar with the concept. I don't think I know of anyone who isn't in fact. Someone introduces a radically improved way of doing something, and the person that profits from the old way tries to silence it. It's an all-too-familiar form of business, even in TSAB." She flipped through the index. "I'm interested in what you found about darkmatter that's related though. Can you fill me in?"

"Yes ma'am. It surprised me too seeing it. The book is based on the initial theory of darkmatter before it was discovered, and again, it was a radical concept. Proving darkmatter existed would have changed the way physics itself was applied, and in the end, that's exactly what happened." Soran raised his right hand and purple and black particles slowly became visible. "They had no idea just how abundant it was in the universe, that it existed only in the vacuum of space where nothing else was. Turns out it was around us in sparse quantities just like this, and all science began to change. This was the poison that started that revolution."

Soran lowered his palm and the particles disappeared. Hayate looked on as they whisped back into nothingness. "Soran, what do you think the Huckbein meant?"

"It's hard to say. He could mean that he's trying to start a revolution, or maybe he thinks of himself as a poison, bringing people to death. Either way, it's a metaphor for something."

"But the question is, what's the metaphor?"

"I don't know. But if this guy is on the loose, we might see a lot more death before we can find an answer."

"I was afraid you'd say that…." The room went silent, both reflecting on the mass extermination of the week before.

Rein looked back and forth between them before smacking her fist in her palm. "Ah. Soran-kun, the poem ~desu."

"Hmm? Oh yeah!" Soran said as Rein pulled out her book. "The XO found something in Azure Sky that seems to be a part of the original Book of Darkness." Rein showed her the passage. "We're thinking that you might have the other part to the poem."

"'From whence the Leyline must return the Leyline, grown and wise.' So that's why you got involved in this one, Soran? The Leyline comes up." She looked at the passage one more time.

Soran shrugged. "It's been appearing pretty often, but I still don't know anything about it."

Hayate bit her thumb for a moment. "Maybe I do have something." Night Sky appeared in her hand and she leafed the pages until she found it. "I mistook it for an overflow of a very powerful spell that I don't use, but maybe this is it. 'The fate sealed by action, its destruction only obtained from within the library.'"

"But what does it all mean, ~desu?"

"What was from the Leyline must return to the Leyline, grown and wise." Soran looked at Rein and the two books. "These books can learn and evolve, can't they? I mean, that's why you each have your own, right? Because it learned it couldn't handle everything in one."

"Essentially yes." Hayate said. "The Book of Darkness was a highly-prized Lost Logia. And even though it has split into two different books, they still consider it one singe Lost Logia."

"Then that means that the Book of Darkness was sent from this Leyline, whatever it is, to learn and evolve, and to come back one day with all its knowledge." Soran got up and walked around the room. "But if that were true, than all Lost Logia are from the Leyline."

"I'm not sure if it's all of them, since it's a classification we gave them ourselves. But what does the passage in my book mean then?"

"I think it might be a failsafe. Lost Logia are powerful, and hard to dispose of, if not impossible. Maybe the Leyline has come up with a way to destroy it if it becomes a danger."

Rein swallowed hard. "No, I don't wanna die ~desu." She sniffed.

"Eh?"

"If it's true and I'm from this Leyline, and the Book of Darkness was bad, then… well… Someone could trigger the failsafe, and I…"

"That would never happen, Rein-chan." Hayate wrapped her up in a tight hug. "Because you're still growing and learning, like all of us."

"Hayate ~desu…." She sighed, relaxing into the affectionate embrace.

The lighting in the room changed into a blinking red, and a klaxon went off. "Code Red. Code Red. Unadministered world under attack." A woman's voice echoed.

"Shari." A vidwindow popped open at Hayate's touch. "What do you have?"

"Hai. Unadministered World 3192 has sent out a dimensional distress call. The enemy is unknown, however multiple people have been reported dead. Oh, hi Soran-kun."

"Can she sortie yet?" Hayate stood up, grabbing the cross from her chest.

"Negative. The engines are still being installed."

"I'll take her in the Star, Shari. You just keep an eye on our telemetry, okay?" Soran bent over the screen.

"Okay, but be careful out there. The commander isn't the Human Lost Logia for nothing."

Hayate blushed as Soran side glanced her. He picked up the pink can and looked straight into its eyes. "Gillium, combat override. Puddlejump to a distance of 1000 feet above this location." The can's eyes dialated and its arms went wild. "Yes, you can turn your speakers back on." The three of them were out the door soon after.

"_Acknowledged. Outlaw Star arriving in 60 seconds._"

"Barrage!"

The keys landed in his right hand. "GET READY."

"Full setup, Accel Jacket!"

"OKAY BOSS." In mid-sprint his uniform melted away, replaced with a skintight armor progressing from blue on the shoulders to black on the calves. The belt contained three orbs, ice blue, burning red, and shocking purple in color. Gloves materialized on his fingers, a blue and yellow-striped ring encircling each cuff. Boots materialized on his feet, a black and yellow-striped square hanging loosely off the ankles. Barrage's orb grew and extended into an oval shape, a metal-flake staff consolidating around it. The other two orbs fell into open slots underneath the main joint before closing up. He grasped it and mounted it on his back.

"You're sure fired up Soran-kun." Hayate smirked a little as they entered the elevator.

"Well, I haven't been in combat in a while." He looked towards her. "Hah? When did…." Both Hayate and Rein were already in Barrier Jacket, books in hand, and Hayate holding her Schwertkreuz staff tightly.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "My transformation is a little different. Hoping to see something?"

"Please, I'm not a pervert. Just took me off guard is all." The elevator stopped at roof level. As soon as he stepped out, a warp hole bent out in the sky, the red starship from a lost dimension and the Starwind's legacy, emerged. Soran crouched, and the cuffs on his wrists and ankles vibrated before he leapt, taking into the air. Hayate's wings spread and she soon followed the younger man into the airlock.

Soran returned Gillium to his track. "Jump to Slipstream as soon as the charge is ready. Don't wait for us, just go."

Hayate went telepathic. 'Shari, inform SlipTunnel Command to open a route for us.'

'Already done. Course is uploaded into the Star's navigation system.'

"Good as ever." The doors opened to the bridge just as the world warped in front of them before snapping back.

"_Slipstream entered. Please confirm the course._"

Soran jumped into the Captain's chair as Hayate took NavCom. The administrator hatch opened and Rein dove in, taking a deep breath and pinching her nose. She embraced herself as her barrier jacket dissolved in the liquid. 'Connected. Connected. Connected. Final connection lock released.' She opened her eyes as the slats of the container slid away. 'Course is set. SlipTunnel Command is requesting we use route 11.'

"Route 11 it is." Soran gripped the controls. "Let's bust through!"

The atmosphere bent outwards in a pale purple sky. Dead ahead was a city, half-consumed in flames. "Hah!" Hayate gasped as she saw it. "This place is twice as big as the last one!"

"_The population is declining at a rapid pace._"

"Rein, can you track it?" Soran hopped out of the seat.

'If I stay with the ship, yes.' She turned to Hayate, a worried look on her face.

"I'll be fine, Rein. We need you here anyway."

Soran and Hayate launched in formation, Rein's tracking information being displayed on Soran's visor. As they pushed through a pillar of smoke, they saw their target. A young woman with short, silver hair was wandering aimlessly with a sword. The girl had the body of a gravure idol, and would have been quite the beauty if it weren't for the blood splattered over her. Her body shuddered. "The pain. Must end the pain… must kill the pain! Must… KILL!" The long single-edged sword she held swooped forward, and a burst of energy detonated in front of her that left the two mages in awe.

"Where did that come from? I didn't see a shot!" Hayate gulped.

"There's something not right with that girl. I'm not getting any magical readings, but she's incredibly powerful!" Soran lowered his brow as he pulled Barrage from behind his back.

"VARIABLE BULLET."

"Permission to fire, Commander."

"Granted."

The energy ball released from the tip of his staff, aiming straight for the back of the girl's head. She whirled around and swung completely destabilizing the magic attack. "What? That's impossible!"

She stared at them unseeing eyes. "Kill the pain! Kill the pain!" She cried out, blood running down the corner of her mouth. She crouched down and leapt, taking flight with no visible flight equipment.

Soran's visor disappeared as he gripped his staff. "Rainbow." Barrage glowed on the tip, and the colors swapped from blue to green, the mount for the oval spreading further out into silver wings. "Yagami-taicho, stay to the rear."

"But…."

"She's a close combat type, and if she can disburse magic, you're the one most at risk here. Fall back and observe, please. We need as much on this as possible."

"Unh… Soran, be careful!" She called as she retreated to a safe distance.

"KILL!" The scream rocked Soran to the core as she came for him.

He pulled back his staff, which glowed a pale green. "CYCLONE." It spoke in Rainbow's female voice.

"Barricade!" He swung it forward, creating a wall of green wind cutters. The girl dove forward with reckless abandon, hitting the wall with no regard her skin, which was cut into by the lashing wind. "That won't kill you, girl. I am Soran B. Takamachi of the TSAB Naval Forces. You're under arres-."

"KILL PAIN! PAIN KILL!" She lifted her sword and swung it in front of her. The magic wind dissipated as fast as it was created, stunning Soran. Now unhindered, she charged for him.

"So it's the blade that's doing it!" Soran clashed with her, sword on staff, both struggling to keep their ground as he avoided touching the blade. His left hand went to the joint of the staff. "Kiryu!"

The staff released the other occupant which expanded into a glowing cutlass in his hand. "FLASH EDGE."

He pulled the sword away from his staff and threw it between the girl's legs. "Splitter!" The blade split into two identical swords, spinning back into the air like boomerangs. The sharpest point entered the girl's shoulderblades, bursting through her chest.

"Hough!" She reared back, stumbling as if she were on dry land.

The glowing swords began to blink. "Hmm? Kiryu… that… hurt you?" Soran was in disbelief.

'Both of Kiryu's blades are reading 30 percent reduced output.' Rein took readings. 'She's reading as human, but no human flesh could cause that kind of damage.'

"Then what the hell is she made of?" Soran gulped. She doubled over on herself gurgling until she let out an intense scream that shook over them like a shockwave. "This bitch is one major freak!"

"Soran! Look at her body! The tattoos!" Hayate pointed.

Black, whispy tattoos that covered her forearms and legs began to spread and move within her skin, cupping her injuries. "HEEEEAAAAAAHHAHH!"

'Damage is increasing. 35. 40. 45. Soran, she's crushing them with her body!'

"Eh? Kiryu, emergency standby!" He yelled. The swords shattered, leaving shards in the girl as the hilts rejoined into one entity, which returned into his staff. The wounds closed up completely, as if she had never been harmed, save for the shredded clothes. The tattoos stopped moving as she stretched out, the crazed look still on her face.

"She's… completely healed. Nothing can do that…." Hayate watched on. "She's beyond anything we've faced!"

"KILL THE PAIN!" She dove forward again, her sword brandished in both hands.

'Kiryu can't activate again yet! Soran!'

"Soran-kun!"

"I already know!" He yelled as he pushed his staff to block, wrenching his wrist to one side. He reared back his mechanical fist and slammed it straight into her face. The false skin ripped as his arm forcibly compacted, some minor components flying loose past his wide-eyed gaze. The girl's right eye twitched, and it came back to life, a beautiful emerald green, which a silent tear rolled out of. "Uh?" She was flung back nearly 100 feet from the force of the impact. Soran's arm went limp, shorting out as he winced in pain. "Shit, even titanium?"

"Soran, that's enough. Disengage! She's far too dangerous!"

"We can't! If we leave, the rest of the city will be completely wrecked! I'll use a Caster on her if I have to! Divine Trinity Maximum Power!" The staff quivered under him, but dissipated.

'It won't work. Kiryu's too heavily damaged to sustain that form.'

"RAHH! REEEHH! HAAAARR!" The girl swung wildly in midair, her green eye seeming to disrupt whatever form of vision the gray eye was using.

"Then I've got only one option left. Starwind Gun." Barrage, Rainbow, and Kiryu returned to orb form, the staff metal reforming around them as a single-barrel shotgun with golden plating in a box frame. He grabbed it and wedged it under his broken arm. He raised his other hand into the air, purple particles appearing in his palm.

'Hayate-chan, what's he doing?' Soran's mechanical shoulder fell open, an orb irradiating the air in a mysterious light. Particles began to appear in the immediate area.

"Soran could have had his arm back within a month if he wanted. But it wasn't enough." The particles began to converge into his open hand. "When he lost his arm as a child, he lost his ability to use darkmatter. So Shamal and Shari worked with him for a full two years so he could regain that power." The particles swirled and wrapped around him, his hand as the focal point. "This is Soran's true power as the Starwind heir… a Darkmatter Bender."

Soran crushed the swirling vortex of darkmatter in his hand, closing his eyes tightly. "Hatch open."

"OPEN." The gun's chamber opened.

Without looking, he shoved the wad of darkmatter into the chamber and closed it. He opened his eyes with the same determination as when he would fire a Caster. "Kiryu, I know this is hard on you, but please…." The energy sword slowly spread from the top of the gun. "Good girl." He went forward quickly.

The girl's swipes were getting desperate, each swing getting harder and harder, the shockwave getting bigger and bigger as she ripped entire trees from the earth below. Soran pushed against one of the shockwaves and her body went rigid. "REEEAHH!" With the hardest of swings the air detonated in front of her in a massive explosion.

"Agh!" Hayate could only watch helplessly as Soran flung himself into it.

"This is the final blow!" He cried.

Her sword clipped his side as she met him head on. "KILL!"

He didn't even flinch as Kiryu entered the girl's forehead, the blade shattering on impact, but that brought the barrel point blank to her green eye. "DM Bullet!"

In the warped air, a purple cloud formed and they were both flung back. "Huckh! GAGH!" The girl cried as she gripped her eye. Her body convulsed as the tattoos began to shimmy again, climbing up her face. The entire eye socket was gouged out, coated in a purple mist. The flesh began to bulge out, but then twisted and tore. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!" Her hands went to her face as she dropped the sword. It disintegrated as she fell to the planet below.

Soran smiled. "That's it! Darkmatter resists her regeneration! She has a weakness!" His celebration was shortlived however, when he unexpectedly hacked up a wad of blood.

'Eh? Hayate-chan, his lung has been punctured! How did… when…'

"Soran-kun!" She swooped in and caught him. "Stay awake, Soran! I'm not losing you!" She felt a wetness on his back, realizing quickly it was blood. "Exit wounds? Shari, get an emergency medical team in Slipstream now! Rein, I'm bringing him in! Jump as soon as we're on board!"

'No, that can't be!' Rein had her face in her hands. 'The rest of the village is dead! 5000 people, gone!'

"How is that…?" She whirled around as she shut the airlock. Just before the world warped in front of her, she saw two figures, one male, one female, staring at the ship with long swords in their hands. "Huckbein!" Hayate hissed as a tear ran down her cheek.


	3. Chapter 3

Leyline Expedition Force 3

"I need two more pints of blood in here!" A blonde woman in surgical garb called out. "Anesthesia, make sure you double that dose. He's built up a resistance."

"Yes ma'am."

Soran lay on the table, his mouth filled with a breathing tube, his chest exposed, with four holes riddled into him. "Display readout." A holographic image of his chest appeared over him. "Four fragments entered his body, but only three blew through. The fourth has lodged itself in his lung. That takes priority. The rest are just secondary bleeders. Nothing else vital got hit."

"Yes, Shamal-sensei."

"Activate sterile field." A bright light shone down from the ceiling. Soran's open wounds sizzled and foamed. "Activate nanotray." The table began to shimmer as nanites moved towards the exit wounds, slowly regenerating the cells to be fused together.

A soft hand placed itself on the observation window, as the other reached for the intercom. "Shamal." Hayate's voice sounded ragged in the speaker.

She looked up at the observation deck, seeing her daughter in spirit. "He'll live, Hayate. We're just lucky he's used to living with less blood than normal."

"Unh. I'm counting on you." She walked away, cradling her arms. Her hand, though fully washed, still felt slick with his blood. When in her arms, she felt every one of his labored breaths as he fought for every second of life. Her fist balled and a tear ran down her cheek.

"Hayate ~desu." She looked up. Her blind walk had taken her to the waiting room, a large contingent of her comrades and friends within. Rein was the one closest to her, wrapping a supporting hand around hers. Vita had been pacing back and forth until she had come in. Signum had been in meditation, raising her head once she had entered, and Zaphira was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. Beyond her adoptive family, there was also Nanoha, her eyes trembling with worry. That face was mirrored by her daughter, who stood beneath her, held in place by her mother's hands. To their left was Nove, Subaru's sister closest in age. Since they were wearing gym clothes, it was rather obvious they were in strike arts training when they got the news, and rushed over.

She took a deep breath and composed herself. "He'll live." They put forth a collective sigh. "Shamal is busy removing shrapnel from him right now."

"Yagami-san…" Vivio stepped forward. "Can I… see Sora-nii?"

"He's in a bad way, Vivio. It's hard enough for me to look at him right now. And even if I let you, your mother…."

"We discussed it on the way over, Hayate-chan." Nanoha spoke quickly. "She's a strong girl, if you allow it, I will to."

Hayate bit her lip. "Yagami-taicho." Nove was the one who spoke this time. "Subaru couldn't be here since she's on assignment, but she asked me to come in her stead. I can go with her if that makes it any better."

"Fine." She sighed as she stepped aside. "Just don't lose your lunches." She nodded, grasping Vivio's hand tightly as they went forward. As the door shut behind them, she turned back to the rest of them. "In the end, that worked out for the best. To bring you all up to speed, this is directly related to the Huckbein case. A sword user that renders magical attacks completely ineffective, and was so filled with murderous intent that it blinded her to everything."

"So she wasn't a knight?"

"No, Signum." Hayate remembered the maddened look in the girl's eye. "She was a berserker. She had no regard for her own safety, no regard for her own body. And while we were distracted by her, her cohorts went and murdered the rest of the city."

"Heh, so you can't use magic on her huh?" Vita smirked. "Sounds like just the opponent for knights like us." She took up a stance next to Signum. "Next time they show up, we'll be the ones to sortie."

"It seems that way. I would have been rendered completely useless." Hayate sighed.

"Dame ~desu." Rein shook her head. "There's more to this than you realize ~desu." Her brow went down. "The attack that nearly killed Soran was made of the shards of Kiryu ~desu."

Signum sat up a little straighter. "Kiryu? You mean his blade?"

She nodded. "And his arm, shattered by the girl's flesh and bone ~desu." Rein brought up the recorded telemetry. "The girl regenerated her body, crushing Kiryu. When Soran ordered an emergency break, some of the shards were enveloped by the girl's healing organs ~desu. When Soran pulled the trigger for his final attack…." In slow motion, the girl thrust her chest forward, and sharp shards of Soran's blade erupted from her like a flack gun.

"If his chest had been a cannon, he would have shot his heart upon it." Zaphira spoke for the first time, quoting Moby Dick in the process. "This is the worst kind of opponent, for anyone, even the Knights of the Wolkenritter. She's a juggernaut in its truest form: a blind rage, a thirst for death, a way to invalidate all defenses and damage all weapons used against it." He stepped forward, laying a hand on Signum's shoulder. "I doubt even your blade could have withstood, Signum." The woman clenched her necklace tightly, lowering her brow.

"And she wasn't alone. I saw two others in the air before we jumped out, which was right after the remaining of the 5000 individuals was snuffed out." Hayate went back to the audio recording. "And the one that attacked wasn't the voice that we heard before, meaning there's more people in Huckbein than we first thought. If every one of them have that kind of power… then we could have an organization of mage killers on our hands."

Nanoha balled her fist. "Hayate-chan, put in a requisition. I'm coming back from hiatus starting now."

"Eh?"

"That girl nearly killed my little brother after murdering thousands. I can't let that go!"

"Woah, time out there, Nanoha!" Vita slid in front of her. "You heard what she said! Magical attacks get nullified! Even if you are an S+, you wouldn't be able to make a dent! There's no point in coming back now!"

"But…."

"It's true, Nanoha-chan." Hayate shook her head. "We don't have enough information as it is right now, and you and I are the most at risk. At present, all we have is a weakness that only Soran can exploit with his darkmatter ability. We need to get more on these people, and more importantly, how to stop them." Nanoha refused to back down. "Besides, isn't Vivio's tournament coming up soon? You need to be there for her right now more than us. We have plenty of people and resources. If things get to the point where we need your strength, we'll call. We always have, and we always will."

Nanoha bit her lip, balling her fist at her side. "Unh…."

"I've never seen him in such a state." Nove whispered as she looked on. "Even during the year he was in stasis he was under lock and key. Which I suppose is a good thing because I wanted to knock his block off."

"A strike arts user did this to him?" Vivio was barely audible.

"Ah. Though I think there's more behind it than that."

"He would never spar with me. Why?" She placed her hand on the glass.

"That answer's simple. Because he loves you. He can't put that aside even during a play fight, and he doesn't want to risk hurting you. I have enough trouble doing it myself with you, but with him I can go all out."

"You've fought with him? How is he?"

"He's good, I'll give him that. One thing that he does well is that he's creative, and can come up with new strategies on the fly. It's called improvisation."

Vivio balled her fists tight. "Then what kind of person could reduce my Sora-nii to this?" She whirled around, fighting tears off in her red and green eyes. "I want to get stronger, Nove! I don't want to see this happen to anyone again!"

"Vivio…."

"When the time comes… I want to be the one to protect him!"

'Hey buddy.' A voice echoed in Touma's head.

"Soran-san…." Touma had sat by his side ever since his release from surgery, after Yuuno dropped him off.

'Go ahead and talk, I can hear you. I just don't want to open my eyes right now.'

"The doctor said it'll take a couple of months for your lung to get back to full capacity and to try and take shallow breaths for now."

'Heh, trust me, I've done that before. Guess you finally get to see what happens to TSAB mages sometimes.'

"You look like shit."

'Funny, I feel like that too. Well, I've come back from worse, though we hadn't met before that.'

"Soran-san… Is this what TSAB is about?"

'No. This is what survival is about.' He opened his eye just a crack. 'But you already know about that, don't you?'

He shook his head. "I only looked after myself."

'But because of that, I was able to meet you, and for that I'm very grateful. What happened out there was a fight for what we stand for, that everyone has the right to live in peace and happiness. Even if I did get shot, I'm glad I was able to save some of them from her bloodthirsty mania.'

"Soran-san…. None of the civilians survived." He wrapped his hand around Soran's wrist.

The man's eyes snapped open, before closing again. 'Well, those kinds of things can happen too. Guess I failed.'

"Are you really okay with that?"

'You bet your ass I'm not.' He snarled.

After his release, Soran's wounds put him behind his desk, and he wasn't happy about it. It had been a month already, and his lungs weren't at full capacity still. He grunted in disappointment as he stared at an image on his viewer. "This sucks."

"_I thought you had settled on that item, Captain._" Gillium spoke.

"I did. I didn't mean the ring sucks, I mean the finances. Ever since that Ingvalt girl vaporized the first one, I've had to save up so I could get a replacement. It's taken almost a year to get enough, and now with all these out-patient rehab treatments I have to do, it's getting tough to finish off. I'm worried I won't have enough in time."

"_Why would you be so concerned about the timing, Captain?_"

"Because timing is everything to girls, Gillium, even I know that. Especially…."

"Hey Soran-kun!" The door slid open without warning, a waving Subaru on the other side. The man's neck tensed as he quickly switched screens.

"Su!" He gasped. "Knock, would ya? I'm still injured, so I can't do surprises just yet!"

"Sorry. I was just bringing the usual get well package." The girl kissed him on the cheek. "Well, minus one thing, since you're not up to doing heavy breathing right now." She winked.

Soran shook his head. "In the old days you would have blushed until your head exploded after hearing a line like that."

"Hey, that's partially your fault you know." She sat on the corner of his desk. "Hey Gillium."

"_Good day to you Miss Nakajima._"

"Did you get the pictures I sent from the trip?" Su asked Soran.

"Yeah I did. How exactly did he get stuck up there?" Soran brought up an image with Touma dangling by his ankle between two trees, getting bonked in the head by a bag, his arms folded in frustration as he glared at the camera.

"The rope got stuck when we were trying to put up the supplies for the night. He climbed up to try and untangle it, but in the end… yeah, that happened."

Soran chuckled. "Well, that'll happen. But how do you explain this one?" Touma was in the same pose in a different tree, his clothes soaked through.

"Oh, THAT." She rolled her eyes. "For the last three days, he wanted to go out on his own to test out his skills. I ok'd it since Lutecia's bugs were tracking us anyway, and Garyuu would have come to the rescue if necessary. So he wandered for a few days, and wound up falling into the onsen… which was replete with nude girls including Vivio, Wendi, and yours truly." Subaru sighed. "Vivio strung him up there and called him a pervert, though he swears he got turned around and had no idea that there were people below."

Soran raised his eyebrow. "Okay, why wouldn't Garyuu have stopped him from getting that far? This is the Alpine home you went to after all, he knows the layout better than anyone. Hell, he made half of it."

Su shrugged. "Apparently he found it funny, either that or Lutecia was playing a cruel joke on him. Ever since she got her mother back she's gotten more… eccentric... shall we say?"

"I'm sorry, did you say eccentric or insane?"

"Soran!"

"Sorry, I just wish she'd lay off the Little Princess a bit. She's been kind of mean to Caro lately."

"Anyway, Vivio swore off talking to him ever again."

"Who won the betting pool?"

"Cinque. Lasted all of about two hours before she called him for dinner."

"Well that's Vivi-chan for you." Soran brought up the schematic to the device. "So what about the secondary mission? Did you find out anything that we can add?"

"Yeah. Although he'll probably be carrying most stuff on his own, I think maybe a plasma blade and a sparker might be helpful. On second thought, cancel the blade, he'll be using a multitool anyway, but we had a hard time setting a fire, so something that could start one would be really useful."

Soran scratched his chin. "I could integrate that into the camera's flash, turn it into a sort of light beam to start a fire."

"If it works it works." Subaru stood up and looked out his window. "Soran, are we really doing the right thing? Letting him go off on his own like this? I mean, he was alone for so long, why would we want to return him to that? Hell, why would he even want to return to that?"

"I think it's exactly what we need to do, Subaru." He got up and wrapped his arms around her. "It's the first time he's ever asked anything of us. It's not something we can just ignore. We've confirmed he's serious about it, so we should let him go."

"I just… am worried about him. I can't help it, since we brought him up."

"Well, why do you think I'm trying to make this Device perfect? So we know he can be safe out there."

"Unh." She sighed as she moved closer to him.

The Star burst through the space-time wall. Soran was in his street clothes as the other stations were manned by Rein, Hayate, Shamal, and Zaphila respectively. "A-ah…" Soran gasped. "We're too late…." Another city below them, completely decimated.

'I'm detecting traces of heavy weapons fire. There are swaths throughout the city. This wasn't just a few people who did this… this was….'

"_A battleship has been detected leaving the area. It appears to be powering its engines._"

Hayate pushed the throttle forward. "Signum, Vita, on deck!" She yelled into the comm.. "We've detected a mode of transport!"

Soran started to rise. "I'll get ready to sortie too. If darkmatter worked once…."

"Sit down, Soran-kun." Shamal ordered. "I haven't sanctioned you for combat yet, even if your lungs have healed up."

"Kuso…." The enemy ship came up on sensors. "W-what the hell is that? It's huge!"

A red and black ship passed over the mountains shaped like a diamond with engines. "It's fast too. We're maxed out and still barely gaining." Hayate furrowed her brow. "Rein, if you can give me any more juice."

'On it.'

Zaphila's ears twitched. "I'm detecting residual heat at the weapons ports. They've been fired recently, and quite a lot at that."

'We're approaching sortie range.'

"Rein, open a channel." Hayate spoke.

'Open.'

"This is Commander Yagami of the TSAB Naval Emergency Forces. There has been an attack on a city in this dimension. Under Interdimensional Code Article 6 Paragraph N, we hereby order you to cut your engines and submit for inspection." No answer came within two minutes, and she counted it down. "Prepare to be boarded." No sooner than she said that, twenty red beams shot from the rear of the carrier. "Shit!"

Star banked left and right as she avoided the energy shots. Soran lowered his brow. "Zaphila, Shamal, activate defenses."

"Ou." Zaphila punched his fist into an interface and gray spires wrapped around the ship's armor. One beam hit it and ripped a small chunk off. "Defense hull deployed."

Klaer Wind shone on Shamal's finger before she placed the ring in an alcove at her terminal. Two portals opened in front of the ship, one intercepting a beam, the other directing it back. "Return Fire system deployed." The beam bounced off the enemy's hull like it was nothing. "No damage."

"Rampart Knight, iguzei!" Vita leapt out of the airlock, her barrier jacket flapping in the breeze as her boots pushed her forward.

"Noble Blade, iguzo!" Signum shortly followed.

"Graf Eisen!" The young-looking redhead glanced at her hammer.

"EXPLOSION." It gobbled down two cartridges and it grew into a giant rocket-powered drill.

"Let's take it down in one shot! Gigant Rakten Missile!" As she lifted the unfeasibly big hammer, the rocket booster lit up, sending it forward as the exhaust triggered the drill to spin. A round of enemy fire came hurtling towards her.

"Hu! Ta!" Signum slid in front of the girl and batted the danger away with her swift sword. She dove out of the way as Vita's hammer served as a barrier against further danger.

Graf Eisen slammed into the hull of the ship full force. The weight dropped the ship a dozen feet from the impact, forcing the nose of the ship to lift up as the stern sank. The armor cracked and dented all across the stern, but as fast as the damage was created, it pushed back, healing itself. It became an even match between the speed the armor was repaired and the damage Vita was doing to it with the drill. The impact point slowly moved back as the ship slid out from under her. "Kuso, that thing's got more armor than the Sankt Cradle Engine!"

Signum had used the opportunity to get under the ship, as she united the sword and scabbard into one. "BOGEN FORM." Levantine morphed into a bow.

"Behold the power contained within my soul, which cries out in rage for the ones you stole!" A diamond-tipped arrow appeared in her fingertips.

"STURM FALKEN."

"Echo, my diamond blade!" The arrow glowed white hot as it fired straight into the sky, piercing the armor right in the engine compartment before erupting out the top. The center engine sputtered for a moment before returning to full power. The armor soon repaired itself. "Tch. So it looks like internal damage is repaired as well." She pulled back to Vita's side as her weapon returned to normal.

"_Their jump engines will soon be fully charged."_ Gillium reported.

"We're out of options. Are they really going to escape?" Hayate gritted her teeth.

Soran leaned forward as Barrage's visor wiped across his vision. "EH?" He was in disbelief. "Rein, is our jump engine primed to follow?"

'Impossible! We just jumped out!'

"What about a puddlejump?"

'Possible… but dangerous.'

"Soran-kun?" Hayate looked over her shoulder.

"Vita, Signum, trust your devices! Use the Tactical upgrade I gave you!" He gripped the pilot's controls tightly. "Switch to secondary bridge controls, we've only got one shot at this."

The two looked at each other before turning back to the target. "Vorehensweiz!" A display visor appeared across their vision. "It's crazy! The timing we would need…."

"Just trust the timing to them and me." Soran said. "Get going!"

Vita and Signum ascended rapidly. Vita pulled four steel balls out of her pocket and tossed them forward as Eisen gulped down another cartridge. Signum's blade cocked a shot. "SCHLAGENFORM." The blade expanded into its signature wire snake puppet as she formed flames at each joint.

"Hiryu Issen!" The knight hurled the line towards the ship below.

"Imada!" Soran bent forward.

"Komitte Fliegen!" Vita's sent forth her bombardment wave with one hammer strike. They passed through Signum's flames, which surrounded the steel as they penetrated the armor.

Signum's blades followed next, tearing a swath through the holes and setting the inside of the hull ablaze. "It's not stopping them! What now, Soran?" She whirled around to find them… not there. "Soran?"

Over her shoulder a jump hole appeared, the Star erupting from it. "Salvage Arms!" Soran yelled as he divebombed it vertically, the machine cannons in the nose firing a full salvo.

Rein pulled her arms back as she linked functions. 'Haaaahh!' The arms unfolded from the sides of the ship, engaging plasma cutters on the fingers. She brought her fist forward in a hefty punch that pierced the inner deck. Ripping it out, she used her other hand and shredded a hole straight through the engines. The enemy ship slowed to a halt.

"We'll rip this thing apart faster than it can heal!" Soran sneered as he shifted the burners to match Rein's attacks.

"_Unidentified entity on enemy ship's hull."_

"Eh?" They all looked up, seeing a burly man with gray spiked hair. He was covered in a black armor with the same whispy tattoos all over him. He held a sword that also appeared to be part axe, and he stared at them with partially grayed eyes. With one hefty swing of this combination weapon, the Salvage Arms were severed, and the armored spires on the bow shattered. "No…" Soran whispered as the man turned around. "KISAMA!" He turned the machine cannons on him as the jump engines fired, warping them away from the slower moving bullet. "Damn you Huckbein!"


	4. Chapter 4

Leyline Expedition Force 4

Soran sighed as he watched. Gillium's maintenance bots were scrambling all over the inside and outside of the hull of his ship. A few were speaking with human engineers, to ensure that the correct parts were supplied, however the pink one sat in a cupholder on Soran's duffel bag. "_Both Salvage Arms suffered a clean cut. Hydraulics were drained from those sections as well. The armor will need to be removed and replaced completely on the bow."_ Soran ran his hand along the cut in the armor. "_Please be careful Captain, it is very sharp. As you can see, if it weren't for the additional armor deployment, we would have lost the entire nose."_

"Yeah, I see it…. I'm just upset. We almost had it, and our strategy failed."

"_Some things cannot be predicted, Captain. You should not blame yourself for this._"

"We could have lost someone, if not everyone, to those Mage Killers, thanks to my miscalculation." Soran shook his head. "That's blame enough for me."

"_Captain…"_

"Would Soran B. Takamachi please report to Command ~desu. Would Soran B. Takamachi please report to Command ~desu." Rein called out over the intercom.

"Eh?" Soran gulped as Hayate informed him. "Vita-budaicho's been taken off of combat duty?"

"Unh." The woman nodded as she pulled a view of Graf Eisen. "See the crack?"

"That's… wait you mean that the armor…."

"Fought back with enough force to create a fracture in Eisen's joint. Shamal also found a similar crack in Vita's wrist."

"B-but her wrist strength is two metric tons!"

"That's the kind of force we're dealing with here. It's almost as if that girl you fought and that ship were made of the same stuff."

Soran pinched the bridge of his nose. "What are we facing?"

"Honestly, I don't know. However if these attacks keep happening at this frequency, there won't be a universe left to save." Hayate shook her head. "I'm pulling you off the front as well, Soran."

"What? But I'm not…."

She raised her hand and silenced him. "Your ship is in need of extensive repair, and our new flagship has been completed, and she's faster than yours, though yours is a lot more maneuverable." She pulled up the specs. "She's going to be our mobile base of operations until this can be solved. That being said, I need you here. As of right now only your darkmatter bullet has done serious damage to one of these juggernauts, and that's not acceptable. We need to develop better equipment, countermeasures, and protection against these things for everyone. That includes Nanoha-chan and yourself. If physical attacks can damage them, even temporarily, then we have to make sure our weapons can take the strain."

"So you're assigning me to R&D?"

"I don't think we have another choice. Only you can utilize darkmatter, and you almost died putting it into effect. If our only trump card gets killed on the battlefield, then we're right back where we started. No, we need to protect ourselves for now."

Soran sighed. "Understood."

"Soran-kun!" Shari threw herself at him in a giant hug. "I'm so glad to be working with you again!"

"Um… yeah, me too." He scratched the side of his cheek at the awkward gesture.

"Don't be such a stiff! You have no idea how much fun I had with that tactical upgrade you sent me to work with. I can't wait to see what's next!" She beamed from ear to ear.

"Unfortunately, I don't really have a clue where to begin with this one." He grabbed a seat at a terminal and started it up. "We're dealing with a foe that is completely impervious to our conventional weaponry."

"Then we should dial it back a notch. Go low-tech instead of hi-tech, though I never thought I'd say that." She sat across from him and opened up her own terminal.

"The problem is really twofold, creating a strong enough defense to hold against something that powerful without using magic, and to do extensive, and sometimes repeated damage to a target."

"And to do it without violating Interdimensional Weapons Codes. Remember, most projectile weaponry was banned in administrated sectors. If there's one thing that will be getting in the way of us right now is bureaucracy."

"I don't have the heart or head to deal with that crap right now." Soran shook his head. "So let's talk defense right now."

"Right." Shari pulled up a schematic of Nanoha's Barrier Jacket and weapon. "The most obvious solution would be to increase the amount of armor that is materialized. However the weight would sacrifice mobility by an order of magnitude."

"And especially when it comes to protecting Nee-chan, sacrificing speed isn't an option." He sighed. "Her life is too fragile now, despite her power, after repeat experiences near death." He balled a trembling fist. "One of which I almost caused."

"Soran-kun… you're still…."

He shook his head. "Another thing we could do is increase mobility."

"That's next to impossible though. Fate's Sonic Form is the fastest we've gotten her. Even then, she can only do close range attacks, and we've seen what that can do. Besides, you have to remember, ample girls like Nanoha and Fate have extra drag thanks to their huge bustlines."

Soran sweatdropped. "So that leaves us back to where we started."

There was a pause between them, until Shari raised her head. "Maybe not!" She brought up an image of Vivio's device, Sacred Heart, also known as Kris. "We designed Kris as a support device so she can use her adult form in a more controlled environment. However he has a function as a sort of unison device as well. He can control Vivio's movements to defend against attacks she may not be able to detect."

"So, what are you saying?"

"At this point, we've been treating a mage as one entity. However if we treat them as two entities, the mage and the device, that opens up more room to work with."

"I see what you're saying now! Say if we gave Vivio more armor, she'd be slower to react, but Kris would be able to counterbalance for that by controlling, at least in part, defense and evasion."

"Exactly."

"However…" Soran gulped. "That runs a major risk. We could unwittingly create another Jormungand."

"That's why we gave Kris limited interactivity though, so that level of sentience couldn't be reached."

"But why do you think I made JorZwei sentient in the first place? That type of control is very limited with our current level of IDs. Jor was supposed to be the perfect partner, able to anticipate and judge and act based on my needs and wants." He leaned back as his mind drifted back to the fight in the pocket dimension. "Instead he manifested himself physically, and nearly killed us all."

"Well then maybe we're going about this the wrong way. In reality, the people that need the armor are the short and mid-range combat. The long range combatants, like Hayate, would be focusing on long range attacks. Those with short and mid-range combat skills have a very strong rapport with their devices. One would never betray the other after all this time. If we gave them that kind of sentience level, I don't think it would ever get to that point." Shari crossed her arms as she looked at a schematic of Raising Heart. "This one has the most potential of them. She can already use Bits that we could repurpose, and since she has no set mass limit beyond what Nanoha can control…."

"We're getting ahead of ourselves though." Soran stopped her. "I don't feel comfortable just using the old programming I put into JorZwei. If we're going to do this, it needs to be from the ground up." He sighed. "This is just like the issue I've been facing with Touma's device."

"Touma-kun?" Shari blinked. "You're creating a device for Touma-kun?"

"A non-combat one though. He wants to do some archeology in the field, but I don't want him to go it all alone either without someone to talk to. So the only thing left is the ID. But how do you make an interactive ID without risking another JorZwei?" Soran pulled Gillium out of his bag and set him on the table, he knocked on the top of its head twice and it activated, focusing its eyes.

"_Good evening Captain._"

"Gillium, status report on the repairs."

"_Stripping out the damaged armor has been completed. We've sent it to the metalworking factory to have it melted and re-formed._"

"The joys and trials of die-cast construction. It's a lost art." Soran shrugged to Shari, who just giggled.

"_Salvage arms mechanical components are on order from Mid-Childia Robotics. The armor will be reconstructed after the new arms have been fitted. I have detected an abnormality in the anti-air weapon system. Should I request an inspection?"_

"Go for it. Star's been grounded until we've figured this out anyway." Soran sighed.

"_Of course, Captain. If you are working late tonight, I could place an order for delivery from a local restaurant."_

"I might take you up on that later, but right now no thanks."

Shari continued to grin during their conversation until she was beaming. "Soran, do you realize what you were just doing?"

"What I was doing? I was talking to Gillium."

"Which is a…."

"A… an interactive sentient computer system!"

Both turned to the pink cylinder, and its eyes bulged out. "_Wh-why are you looking at me like that?_"

"Oh, nothing." Shari said as she reached for the can. "It's just I've been wanting to do this for a long time."

"_I'm not going to like this, am I?"_

"_I was right…."_ Gillium sighed, an incredulous look in his eyes. His pink shell had been stripped off, and his tiny mechanical arms were stretched out wide as mechanical arms controlled by Shari and Soran poked and prodded his inner systems. "_This is highly embarrassing._"

"I've been wondering what makes you tick for years." Shari grinned. "It's like a dream come true for me. Soran, seeing anything worthwhile?"

"Plenty!" Soran was taking extensive internal scans. "If I took these basic pathways and shrank it down to our level of device technology… I can make Touma's device work! Gillium, you've got everything I needed this entire time!"

"_I'm not sure I can appreciate the compliment in this situation, but thank you anyway Cap-bruuuugh."_ His eyes went out of focus.

"Whoops, there's the AI core." Shari stuck her tongue out. "I'm patching the scripting to you now. See anything interesting?"

Soran's eyes ran through the screen back and forth. At one point he lowered his brow and leaned forward, pausing the stream. "I've never seen this code before. Shari, what am I looking at here?" He sent the code back to her side.

She pushed up her glasses, and her mouth opened slightly. "It's a… tolerance script?"

"A tolerance script? What the heck is that?"

"No, that's the wrong word, it's an acceptance variable, incredibly complex. If this is applied to emotional scripting, then maybe… Soran, I think you just found the missing link. This is an imperfection allowance program!" He blinked. "It's an acceptance variable that essentially explains to the system that humans are inevitably flawed, and make mistakes. That eliminates any negative emotional triggers that could lead to dissent. Boy, Gillium's acceptance variable is through the roof."

"Which explains the deadpan matter-of-fact attitude." Soran thought. "Shari, what would happen if we put the variable at zero?"

"You want to try it? Okay."

Gillium reactivated. "_There should have been no need to forcibly remove my parts. You humans can't even scan me and comprehend me without causing humiliation. Pathetic creatures. Weak, indecisive. You should all be steriliz-zwoooohhhh._"

"And now we know. That sounded pretty familiar, eh Soran?"

"Too familiar." He shook his head. "Bring him back up with normal settings. I'm going to go through the code one more time to make sure there isn't anything else I don't recognize, but this might actually be the key!"

The Interdimensional Archive was abuzz with activity. News media from around the administrated worlds had all gathered. A new disclosure from the TSAB was about to be released, thanks to Interdimensional Law. Soran stepped up to the podium on the steps in his Barrier Jacket, as a viewscreen appeared between the pillars above him. "You all know who I am, you've seen me before when I introduced the new Tactical ID system from two years ago. I'm proud to say that every Intelligent Device that TSAB has is now equipped with this patch!" There was applause. "However, when it comes to creativity, instinct, and communication, IDs are still very limited. The I in ID stands for Intelligent. We've made them as such. They can respond to our feelings, understand them, and use them to increase effectiveness in and out of combat. Even now, decades after their creation, we can still not hold conversations with our Devices. Until now. Barrage!"

"READY BOSS." The staff appeared in his hand.

"Earlier, I asked Barrage to read Moby Dick. Barrage, read me a passage from Moby Dick."

"CALL ME ISHMAEL."

"No no no. I mean a passage that YOU feel is meaningful."

"IF HIS CHEST HAD BEEN A CANNON, HE WOULD HAVE SHOT HIS HEART UPON IT."

"Why'd you choose that, Barrage?"

"AS A SHOOTING DEVICE, I CAN RELATE TO BEING USED AS A CANNON. THOUGH IT IS A SAD ALLUSION WITHIN CONTEXT, APART FROM IT, IT HAS MEANING TO ME."

The crowd started murmuring. "Thank you, Barrage. Rainbow!"

"READY BOSS." The head of the staff switched to the feminine ID.

"Paint me a picture."

"OKAY." The staff glowed and a burst of elemental energy released into the air in the picture of a green tornado. There were gasps throughout the audience.

"Well done, Rainbow. Oh Kiryu." The blade appeared. "Tell me a joke."

"WHAT DO YOU CALL A DINOSAUR THAT BURNT ITS TAIL? A STEGO-SORE-ASS."

With a gesture of his hand, Soran's devices returned to standby. "For decades, the I has stood for Intelligent. But that doesn't hold any longer with my Device. The I stands for Interactive. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the newest advancement in Device tech, the Sentience Pack!" On the screen above him, the code scrolled, and people started taking photographs rapidly. "With this new capability, the user and the device can work closer together than ever before, or even work as separate entities towards the same goal. However this is not for every user. Those who have had their devices for at least five years, if not more, should use this new sentience pack. Anyone who wants this patch will have to go through ID screening to determine this. I will open the floor to any questions."

"Why the limit?"

"The limit is there to establish a rapport and trust between the device and the user. It's been proven that only with a proper extension of trust and partnership will the programming be fully functional."

"When is this going to be available?"

"Oh, about five minutes ago."

"When will you be submitting your lesson plan for the Caster class?" Everyone went silent and turned to the speaker, a thin, pale-faced man covered in black. "Well?" He spoke in a French accent.

"Who let you in here? Someone get this freeloading jackass out of here!"

"I suggest you answer, Soran Berkt." He said as security surrounded him ready to cart him off.

"Barrage." His key glowed. "Make a note to buy a can of beans tonight."

"ANOTHER NOTE TO WRITE, SORAN?"

"You got it."

The man's brow lowered. "So be it." He turned and walked away.

The rest of the press conference dissipated shortly after the incident, and Soran sighed as he walked the halls of the library. "Man, I really hate public speaking."

"Well, you're the one with the by line on the code." Yuuno joined him. "I honestly think you did pretty good out there."

"Except for that one guy. Who was that anyway?"

"No clue." Yuuno shrugged. "But you're not hanging around here to give you my opinion about that, are you?"

"No…." Soran stopped and turned to his older friend. "It's been six months. Is he ready?"

Yuuno nodded. "He's gone through every simulation and exercise Subaru and I can think of, and some that Nanoha-chan came up with too. Those ones were just nasty!" Soran smirked at that. "But he's taken everything we've thrown at him. It might be time to cut him loose, Soran."

Soran drew his lips tight. "Well, it's not like I came here expecting to hear a no." He pulled up his watch and sent a message addressed to Touma.

Soran and Touma sat on a bench looking out to sea. They each had a bowl of their favorite ice cream. "So, six months are up." Soran broke the ice.

"Yeah."

"It's tough out there, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but I'm up to it."

"So you're still set on this trip?"

"Yeah. I sorta… need to go, you know?" Touma sighed, looking into the sunset. "Like somewhere out there is my answer."

Soran put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Don't be upset if you can't find it right away. Make sure you come home."

"Don't worry, Soran-san, I will."

"I know. But you won't be alone out there either." He pulled out a small box and opened it up. In it was a black lanyard with a silver cylinder with a camera lens. "Steed, time to wake up."

"Uh?" The cylinder floated up, rubbing its lens with the end clip of its lanyard. "Oh. Soran, is this the one you spoke of?" He spoke with the same voice as Gillium, however with a little more hint of emotion.

Soran nodded. "Touma, this is Steed. Steed, Touma. He's the partner I promised you six months ago."

Steed floated in front of Touma and saluted. "Greetings, I am Steed, your new Interactive Device. My main functions are advisory and photography with secondary search functions and all around aiding in your journey."

"Steed is programmed with the Sentience Patch, so you will actually have someone to talk to while you're out there. He's a partner and an advisor, the perfect companion for a budding archeologist like yourself. That's why I named him Steed."

"Soran-san… he's awesome! Thank you so much!" Touma and Steed talked for a few minutes, getting to know each other. Soran couldn't have been prouder or happier. The sun had gone down and the street lights had turned on by the time they realized exactly what time it was. "Wow, it's getting late. I need to go home and pack." Steed wrapped around his neck and clipped together.

Soran grabbed his wrist. "Wait…." His eyes were hidden by his bangs.

"Soran-san?"

"When you get back, things will be different around here. For starters, I don't think the Subaru's Dad will be asking to adopt you anymore."

"Wha? How come?" Soran pulled out a felt box and opened it up. "Woah!"

The ring inside sparkled in the street light, two rows of four diamonds intercrossed in a curling platinum band. "Because I'm going to ask Subaru to marry me. And if she says yes…" He raised his head and looked straight into his eyes. "I want you to be our son."

"S-Soran…." Touma's eyes began to well with tears.

"We never spoke about it before but… Subaru can't have children. Her womb was damaged during a fight with her sisters in the JS Incident, and it can't support a child anymore. Touma, Subaru and I have always felt you were our child, even though us meeting was strange." He let go of his arm and stood up next to him, pocketing the ring. "When you come back, that's what I'm going to ask you. So be prepared when that happens, okay?"

"Soran-san…." Touma wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "Unh! I'll be ready."

Subaru and Soran watched as Touma's slipstream jet took to the sky. She held her hand against her heart, with tears in her eyes. Touma looked back at the ground and thought to himself. 'Su-chan, I'm sorry. I can't allow myself into that kind of happiness just yet. Not until I know. Not until I find my answer. So please, bear with my selfishness until I get back. Please…'


	5. Chapter 5

Leyline Expedition Force 5

'Administrated Battle Network Online.' A computerized voice echoed. 'Combat Type: Free-for-all. Entrants: Vivio Takamachi, Soran B. Takamachi, Nove Nakajima.' All three stood posed to fight hand to hand in a triangle, all three with their barrier jackets on, Vivio in adult form. 'Battle limitations: Strike arts classification only. All abilities reduced to 20 percent of normal. Spar will last for 10 minutes. Start at the tone.'

DOON. The fight was on and immediately Nove and Soran were at each others' throats. Both were at a distinct disadvantage in this fight. Nove's Gun Knuckle was locked out with the projectile functionality, and Soran's cutlasses were deemed too dangerous to use, so he found himself using Barrage as a balanced bo staff only. Nove countered his first swing with her armored fist before flipping it behind his back into the other hand and doing jabbing thrusts. The third managed to dip into her bellybutton as she grabbed the staff with both hands before wrenching it in such a way that they were evenly matched in fighting for control of the weapon.

Soran smirked and allowed her to get the upper hand, lifting him along with the staff into the air. He slid down the shaft, his foot swinging directly for her head. Nove's eyes widened before lowering. She stamped her foot, and a golden pathway shot straight up next to her in the path of his leg. A powerful pressure tore up the ground and air, breaking the stalemate as Vivio's Wave Cutter lead her attack. Utilizing the stun time, she placed a palm strike into Soran's chest before plowing her foot into Nove's unguarded side. She grabbed his staff and yanked him into her fist.

Jet Edge gleamed on Nove's ankles as her airliner expanded out underneath her. Turning the backwards momentum into forward, she slammed her free foot onto Vivio's shoulder. The impact put the girl's center of gravity off balance, giving Soran just enough time to swing Barrage around with her still on it, sending the two girls sprawling into each other. Taking it as his chance, Soran leapt up, his staff overhead. "Haaahh!" The girls rolled apart as the staff impacted between them. The impact sent cracks into the concrete under their feet, turning the ground uneven and unstable.

"Kono!" Nove flipped onto her feet. As soon as they touched the ground, Airliners erupted from the cracks in a barrage that headed straight for the other combatants. Soran twirled his staff in front of him, batting down the bizarre attack as Vivio cartwheeled and leapt around them, finding an opening and leaping through, doing a powerslide on the friction-reduced surface between Nove's legs.

"Kurai!" Turning around to take a strike against her turned out to be too slow, as Vivio's blazing fist coursed up her chest and landed straight in her chin, shredding her barrier jacket from her stomach to her neck.

'Combatant Nove Nakajima, eliminated.' The computer stated as the girl collapsed to the floor.

"Yahoo! I did it!" Vivio grinned before spraying her breath out mixed with spit. Soran's fist was lodged in her stomach. "Not a…gain…." She collapsed over his shoulder.

'Combatant Vivio Takamachi, eliminated. Combatant Soran B. Takamachi, winner.'

He slung the girl onto his shoulders as she shrank back to her proper age. "You okay, Nove?" He reached a hand out to her.

She blinked the stars and spirals out of her eyes. "Ull… I'll be fine once I get my bearings back." She took his hand and she stood up, leaning on him for a second before regaining her balance. "If that had been at full power, that woulda been the end of me right there."

"Well yeah, an impact that would tear your jacket to that extent… speaking of which, you might want to switch back, you're showing more cleavage than Fate-san in a cocktail dress."

She blushed bright red as she covered herself with one hand, a scornful look on her face. Her civilian hoodie coalesced on her. "Sure got an eyeful there, didn't you? Hope you enjoyed it, perv."

"Hey, I did you the favor of letting you know instead of letting you walk out in public like that. Speaking of which, come on, we did say the winner would buy ice cream."

"So just when are you going to get a boyfriend, Nove?"

"Sh-shut up! I'm not that type and you know it!" Vivio awoke slowly to the banter. "I'm not like Subaru, who stumbles on a guy one day and winds up engaged to him."

"Hey, that's not fair. It took me years to pop the question you know! It's not like we went and eloped a week after meeting or anything."

"Eh?" Vivio blinked as things finally fell into place for her. "EH? Sora-nii, you really did it? You asked Suba-nee to marry you?" Soran scratched his cheek, looking away. "Kyah! That's so exciting! I was wondering if you'd ever get around to it." She looked to her placemat at the table. "Oh, thanks for the ice cream, by the way." The girl put a spoonful in her mouth and cupped her cheeks in joy as she savored the flavor.

"She's not the only one, you know." Nove lowered her brow. "She had expected you to propose nearly two years ago."

"Yeah… I don't want to make excuses really, but first there was the whole thing where the ring got wrecked during a fight with that Ingvalt girl." Both Nove and Vivio sweatdropped, exchanging looks before he could notice. "After that I had to work up the cash to buy a new one, and besides, with Subaru joining the rescue squad and then meeting Touma, conditions weren't exactly ideal. I was waiting for that perfect moment, you know?"

"And? And?" Vivio was practically jumping out of her seat. "What was the perfect moment?"

"Heh, it wasn't a perfect moment at all." Nove crossed her arms and smirked. "She was feeling all broken up and angry over Ginga's boyfriend dumping her and the idiot over here decided it was the ideal time to get on one knee."

Soran shrugged. "Sometimes you got to go with the flow. She accused me of being scum, a noncommittal bastard, etc etc. But that all changed when I pulled out the ring. I was worried that it would only upset Ginga more, but it turned out to cheer her up a bit too." He leaned back and stretched. "All's well that ends well, right?"

"Unh!" Vivio nodded. "So have you set a date yet?"

At that, Soran frowned. "Sadly, no. Subaru's been put on assignment in a sector that had just come under administration. They're working to update them to all the safety standards, but it's dangerous. That's why they needed a mage on the rescue squad. Really there's no telling how long it will be before she's back. Until then, I'll be forwarding Touma's mail to her."

"I see…." Vivio sighed.

DEE DEET. DEE DEET. The sound came from Nove's direction. "Hnn?" She looked at her watch. "Woah, it's that time already? Sorry guys, I've gotta go! I promised to meet Wendi and Cinque after they got off of work!" She slung her duffel over her shoulder and dashed off with farewell messages following her.

Vivio raised her eyebrow. "Wendi-san doesn't get off for another two hours."

"Really?" Soran smiled wryly. "I thought I smelled testosterone. She's got a boyfriend after all."

"Huu…." Vivio sighed.

"Mm?" Soran blinked, a bit confused, before his watch flashed. "Eh? From Onee-chan?" He connected the call as the vidwindow popped open. "Hey Nee-san."

"Hi Soran-kun! Is Vivio with you?"

"Yeah, I'm here, Nanoha-mama." She answered quickly.

"Soran, I need a favor. Can you house sit for me tonight? Fate-chan and I have been called into something major at HQ. I don't know how long it will take, but this might be an all nighter."

"I can handle myself, Nanoha-mama! I'm not a little kid anymore!"

"Yeah well you've been forbidden from cooking until you pass that home-ec class you nearly burnt down. Soran will be cooking tonight, that is if that's okay, Soran-kun."

"Sure, I don't mind. I've finished my week, essentially. Besides, it gives me more time to spend with my neice." He reached out and ruffled her hair.

"Thanks, Soran-kun, I really owe you one."

"If you want to repay me, can you use your contacts to help me get Subaru a wedding dress?" He winked at Vivio, and she giggled slightly.

"Oh, that shouldn't be too ha…" She paused before gasping. "! Don't spring that on me so suddenly Soran-kun! Now you're going to make me wonder all night, damn you! First thing tomorrow, I'm asking you everything!"

"Hai hai. Just concentrate on your work. Bye, Nee-san." Soran cut her off. "Well, tomorrow morning we'll be having a Nervous Nanoha and a Fidgety Fate on our hands, won't we?" He grinned.

The sun was beginning to set as Vivio and Soran padded along towards Nanoha's house. "So you got the message I sent, right? And all the designs made it through?"

"Yep. Thanks a bunch Soran." Shari said on the other line.

"Don't thank me, I just drew it up, now you've got the hard part of getting them implemented. Remember, this has never been done before. Give Nanoha and Fate's armor top priority."

"Of course. I'll talk to you when I know something substantial. Bye."

Vivio kicked a pebble, her shoulders slumped, and her head down. "What's wrong, Vivi-chan? Are you bummed about your moms being out tonight?"

"No… I've just been thinking…." She sighed. "Am I going to be a flower girl, or a bridesmaid?" Soran blinked. "I'm getting to that point when I'm too old to be a flower girl, like I was in Mamas' photo shoot. But I'm not sure I want to be a bridesmaid either just yet. I don't have the body to wear one of those beautiful gowns unless I'm in adult form." Kris flew out of her bag and landed on her shoulder, patting her cheek.

"Does it really matter that much? If you're so concerned about it, then we'll find a different place for you." Soran put a hand on her other shoulder and drew her close. "You're my sister's beautiful daughter. There's no way in hell I'd ever leave you out of our wedding just because of a little age issue. Besides, I think Touma would love to see you in a bridesmaid gown."

Vivio rolled her dual-colored eyes. "Just what I wanted to hear to cheer me up. What's going to happen to him anyway? Will that make him your brother in law?"

"Well if I have anything to say about it, he'll be your cousin."

"Eblugh! Bleaah! Gaaag!" She made fake vomiting noises. "Not what I wanted to hear!"

"You know, they say that if a girl and boy of your ages fight, it means they like each other."

"And they also say that the person that pisses off the Kaiser gets their ass kicked, comprende?"

"By your command Waka-sama." He made his best impression of Otto, bowing low.

Vivio slumped. "You have a comeback for pretty much everything, don't you?"

"Have to, when you live and work with characters like these all day." Soran shrugged. "Besides I…" His head shot up, his brow lowering.

"I swear that one of these days I will…." She bumped into his arm. "Eh?"

Kiryu flashed into his other hand. "Kris." He snapped his fingers, and the little bunny understood, floating to the girl's chest, disappearing in administrative unison. The other cutlass appeared in his left hand. Soran's muscles tensed, quickly changing to first-level Jacket.

Vivio was confused by her allies moves. 'Kris, what….' She stayed silent as the bunny took control of her head and eyes, scanning the road ahead of her. Three street lights were knocked out directly ahead, in the vicinity of her home's driveway. Moreover, it looked like they were purposefully shot out to darken the approach. Understanding, she lowered her brow.

Sensing her power rising, he shot her a message. 'No, don't. Just let Kris handle it right now.' Soran stepped forward slowly. 'Do exactly what I tell you. If I say fight, fight. If I say run, run. Don't question, just do it.'

As he rounded the corner, two men in pitch black suits with masks stood between them and the house. "Well, at least you were kind enough to wait for us." Soran stood in a fighting pose. "I'd ask you who you are, but with those masks on, you're not here to talk. I'll rip them off of you myself." The two ran forward without even raising a device. "Vivio, get back!" He ordered as he swung, tilting his weapons so they hit at the flats sending them sprawling back. He dashed forward quickly, swinging and missing as one jumped to the side. "Go! Get to the house!"

"But they're not using devices! Soran, let me help! We can take them!" Kris frowned inside her and took over, sprinting behind him as he guarded the lane. "Kris! Why?"

The enemy on the right attacked first, rushing forward. Soran dodged, blocking with his swords as he started punching. "You've got some guts." He sidestepped a punch and clamped his forearms down on his arm. "But I've got the skill!" He slammed his shoulder into the chest of the enemy, then whirled underneath and slashed both of his swords up, sending the ninja flying back. The other one had charged in the motion, swinging his fist at the man's head. Soran ducked low and cut his midsection apart.

Vivio couldn't believe her eyes as the blades went through, gasping on the landing. She gasped even harder when the second enemy's next fist sent a plowing blow into Soran's chest, flinging him back. "Soran!"

"Crap, what the hell was that?" He picked himself up as one of them leapt up to do a karate chop. He put both of his swords in place to block, and in slow motion, he saw the man's arm drive through the blades just before he made contact with Soran's noggin. His other palm struck him in the chest, sliding him backwards even further. "Rgh! They're wearing AMF suits! Must be coded to counter physical magic. Naraba!" He leapt up as both came out swinging again. His blades disappeared as his staff appeared. "Barrage Arc Shooter!" Whirling around in a circle, Barrage released six balls of energy that vectored in on the targets. They rolled into a bush to evade, and they leapt out, barely dodging the attack. One looked up as Soran landed in front of him, a glowing orb on his staff.

"Hnd!" The enemy reached forward, his palm taking the shot at point blank range. His hand sizzled, but was left unscathed.

"Shit!" Soran backed away as the other encroached on his position. "Shooting-class AMF too?" The second leapt for him. He flipped his staff to the back end, and as the front changed to Rainbow, he shoved the butt into the enemy's stomach and plowed his fist into him, before he could hit the ground, Soran lanced a freezing blow that froze the ground underneath, sending him sliding backwards into the bush and out the other side. He whirled the head to the front. "Lightning Buster!' A purple orb of plasma hurtled for the first, who backpedaled into the bush before grinding to a halt. He spread his arms wide and absorbed the attack with confidence. "Aw fuck, come on!"

Vivio blinked. "That's it! Soran it's….!" A hand clamped down hard on her neck. "Agh…gggh…."

"Hold!" A French accent spoke from behind her. The two ninjas stopped attacking. Soran turned around to find Vivio restrained by a burly man in a TSAB MP uniform, and the pale man with the long thin nose he had ejected from the news conference. "I must say, I knew you were crass when you get upset from your file, but truly, throwing around such words in the presence of such a young specimen." He caressed her cheek with his gloved hand. "How vulgar." He slapped her, hard.

"Vivio! Kgh, you prick!" He took a step forward.

"Hagh!" The MP clenched tighter.

"Her life means nothing to me, Mr. Berkt. I have the clearance to use any methods to obtain the secrets of the Casters, and you will give them to me!"

"Soran… I don't…."

"She will die, Mr. Berkt. My friend here has enough strength to destroy a skull with three fingers." He smirked. "Will you submit?"

"No…" A young male voice echoed behind him on top of Vivio's. "He won't." A ring of miniature Round Shields had coalesced around her neck, expanding outward quickly, and her head slipped out of the man's grasp. He grabbed her leg quickly, stretching her far enough away where she couldn't get another shot in, but her leg lengthened and she took a heavy swing into his cheek right and left. As her barrier jacket coalesced on her, she shoved a heeled foot right into his nose, snapping his head back.

The MP released her and she began to go toe to toe with the pale man, who countered her strikes with a smile on his face. His hand went to his waist. "Hah?" She gasped as she leapt back. GLINT! A thin flash of light rose up splitting her barrier jacket right between her breasts. She panted heavily, gulping as she backed up.

"Vivio, did that cut you?" Soran said as he caught her.

"No." She gasped. "No, I'm okay. Why?"

Soran lowered his brow. "Because that knife is poisoned."

"Eh?"

"That's a Ben's Knife… from Administrated World #31998." Soran put her behind him and handed her his duffel bag. She took it as his staff and jacket went to level two. "So that means you're a Hunter."

"Oh, I'm surprised you know about Hunters." His knife gleaned in the porch light. "And of the significance of this blade."

"Trust me, I know. Plenty of your world's Rare Hunters came looking for weaponry to steal in the early part of the Presean War. My guess is that you're one of them. That's the only way you'd be this driven to get a hand on the Casters."

"Well, you are right on most points…. However, with TSAB assistance, I have access to all the Casters I want, thanks to you, Mr. Berkt, and your little mining operation in Slipstream. However, my colleagues foolishly believed they would be able to comprehend the power of that weaponry on their own. I, for one, have no intention of being destroyed by a singularity. And neither does your government, honestly. Since we share the same goal…"

"They hired a lowly scum like you!" Soran dashed forward, his jacket's cuffs propelling him.

"Sora-nii!" She gasped, gripping his bag tightly. The two ninjas took positions around her. She slung it over her shoulder and prepared for combat. "So the melee AMF ones, eh?" The two of them looked to each other before coming back. "Yeah, I've figured it out. Koi! I don't need magic to defeat the two of you."

Soran clashed with the Hunter on the deck. "So what kind of poison do you have on there?"

"A paralytic actually."

"You're surprisingly truthful for a Rare Hunter." Soran snarled before he leapt back.

"I find that in my line of work, the truth, shall set you free. Or in this case, my weapon!" A green aura surrounded him which consolidated onto his dagger, which expanded, on the swing, into a full fledged sword.

Clashing with him sent sparks flying from both weapons as Soran backed up, flipping into a storm of jabs with his spear. "You're a Transmuter type."

"You are far too well informed."

"Let's just say you guys were on my revenge list a while back."

"CYCLONE."

"Barrier!" Soran swiped it forward. "But you can only transmute something that you're completely familiar with. Most Transmuters make their weapons to strengthen that bond. Isn't that right, Ben?"

"Eh?" Vivio gasped as she grappled with her foes.

"The second most infamous murderer on 31998. Benjamin Jackal, murderer, artist, demon. You were supposed to have taken your own life after a kill didn't inspire you to sculpt a new knife. But it looks like you decided to go elsewhere, and start killing there instead!"

"Nay, Sir. That man did take his own life. The one you see before you is named Slicer T. Endo!" The green aura returned, increasing the heft of the blade as it slammed against Soran's block.

"What the hell?" Vivio backed up as one of the black-clad ones stood back up. The second one had his broken hand in front of his face as it fixed itself. "These guys are insanely durable!"

Soran's grip on the deck began to slip. "Grrr…." He looked over to her. "Of course! Vivio, they're Hunters! Probably Reinforcement type!"

"And that means?" She ducked a punch and caught a leg.

"Damage sponges!"

"Crap!" She rolled backwards, out from their reach.

"Willing to surrender yet, Mr. Berkt?"

"That's not my name, and since you were so kind to reveal your trump card…." The Divine Trinity shattered, and Soran ducked under Slicer's swipe as it cut into the siding of the house. "Air Pulse!" All four extremities pointed directly at him and unleashed a violent rush of air from his cuffs, sending them both flying away from each other. Soran's back crunched against the porch railing as it broke.

"Sora-nii!"

He took into the air, his voice expressing the pain. "I figure I should probably show you mine!" Kiryu turned into a dagger in his hand and he cut open his mechanical arm with it, retrieving a golden bullet. "Divine Trinity, maximum power!"

"GILLIUM FORM!" Soran's familiar golden staff appeared.

"Ah! There it is! The delivery system to the most powerful weapon Perseus had to offer!" Slicer stared at it in awe.

"Vivio, get to the panic room! Lock yourself in there and wait for Nanoha!" He loaded the bullet. "Pagua sunfa, pagua sunfa, pagua sunfa, pagua sunfa…."

"But what about you?"

"I'll take them out just like this! Go!" Two black wings spread around the rotating barrel, a black ball appearing on the tip. "Pagua sunfa, pagua sunfa, pagua sunfa, pagua sunfa…."

"Though I would love to see this go through to completion, I must disagree with that thought." He dashed out, passing Vivio and paying her no mind. "So I must stop you right now!" He hurled his sword straight for the airborne guardian and the tip embedded in his stomach.

"SORAN!"

"Haaaah…." His vision started to waver, lowering his brow and gripping his staff. "Pagua sunfa… pagua sunfa…" His vision started to go black. "Pagua sun faire…" He fell from the sky as the black spot shot forward faster than the eye could see.

"NO! NOOOOOOOO!" The ninjas turned towards her and bounded for her. She swallowed, tears in her eyes as she turned, flinging open the door and shutting it behind her.

The Frenchman picked Soran up as his blade returned to a dagger, and then placed in his hilt. "Find her. The boy's bags might have something we need." He shoved a large needle into Soran's neck. "Kill her if you have to. This is the only one I need alive."

The two Reinforcement Hunters searched the entire house, tearing the place apart attempting to find the girl. They eventually did find a panic room, reinforced with physical and magical shielding, and after repeated attempts, they finally broke through the door and found… nothing. Vivio Takamachi had disappeared.


	6. Chapter 6

Leyline Expedition Force 6

Vivio sobbed, her knees cradling Soran's bag. She had returned to her younger form, and Kris circled her in an attempt to get her attention. "Sora-nii!" She cried towards the ceiling, which she realized was a lot further away than she expected, and much darker too. "Eh?" Kris flew in front of her eyes, pointing forward. "Hah?" She gasped as she saw the red metal of the Star.

She whirled around, getting a better feel of her surroundings. "How did I… this is Sora-nii's garage?"

"_Mmmphm mi mbum._" Soran's bag vibrated. She dropped it quickly in fear. "_Ooph!" _Kris floated down into an open pocket of the duffel and pulled out Gillium, straining to keep him afloat. "_The captain made a wise decision._"

Vivio blinked. "What is this thing?"

"_I am Gillium III, sentient computer system of the Outlaw Star, captained by Soran B. Takamachi._" The Star's hatch opened in front of them. "_Please board quickly, you will be safer within the ship._"

Kris had sweat flying off him as he carried the can, Vivio close behind, still not completely understanding. When the door sealed shut behind her, she yelped. "W-why am I here? The last thing I remember was going for the door of the panic room and…."

Gillium locked into the management rail. "_Connected. The captain does not make it a habbit of carrying a weapons-grade Caster with him off duty. He used a Type 0, most likely to rig one of your house's doors into a warp hole which brought you to the Star's doorstep._"

"Sora-nii…" She began to cry again. "Why… why didn't you save yourself?"

"_Though small, this ship is a veritable fortress. It will not be broken through as easily as some would think. You will be safe here._"

"I don't want to be safe! I want Sora-nii back! But now he's gone! Murdered in front of my eyes!" Tears streamed down her face, filled with rage.

Kris divebombed her, sending a hard strike to her cheek. He pulled in front of her and gestured with hand signs. "Eh? 'That doesn't make any sense. If they killed him, the Casters die with him.'"

"But he got hit in the heart with a poisoned sword."

"_If the assailant was using poison, it is highly likely he had an antidote on hand._"

"Then… Sora-nii is alive?" Kris nodded emphatically. Vivio's brow lowered as she balled her fist. "Nove-san, it looks like that time is here…."

"_If you remain, I will attempt to raise your parents."_

"No. No, I understand what's going on. It wasn't a coincidence that Nanoha-mama was called away. The entire thing was a trap for Sora-nii." She pressed her hand against her chest. "Gillium, if the Captain has been captured, who is in command of the ship?"

"_That would be the First Officer._"

"And who would that be?"

"_As the crew rotates out on necessity basis, I believe that would be you._"

"Then we'll stay dark for now. Don't contact anyone that has connections to Nanoha-mama or Sora-nii. They may be monitored. We're going to have to do something that they won't expect… something so crazy that only we can pull off."

Hayate sat in her favorite chair, relaxing with a good book before bed. She already had her robe on and finished the chapter. No sooner had she closed the novel then Rein walked in, rubbing the sand out of her eyes. "Hayate-chan, the commander of the Intelligence Division is on the line. He says it's regarding the Huckbein case."

"At this hour?" She narrowed her gaze.

Six. It was a number that portrayed so many things for Soran B. Takamachi. It was Section 6 that brought them all together. It was a team of six before he joined the ranks. It was also the number of years since its disbanding. And most recently… SKRUNCH… the sixth time he'd been hit in the cheek in the past hour.

He raised his head with a glare in his eyes. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as he smirked. The staff that hit him was his own, held in the clutches of a scowling interrogator.

The man's face was long and thin, his eyes squinted, only increasing the length of his nose. "Your dossier stated that your determination knows no bounds, Soran Berkt." He spoke in a slightly French accent. "It was that same determination that brought you here in the first place, ironically. If you had just answered TSAB's request for the Casters, you wouldn't be subject to my methods."

"My name is Soran B. Takamachi." His staff struck him again.

"Your name is mud!"

"My name is Soran B. Takamachi." Another hit. He looked up afterwards with a smirk.

The scowl on his face disappeared, sighing. "That determination again. It's clear that breaking you will take some time. But mark my words," He thrust Barrage under Soran's chin and lifted his head further. "Once I, Slicer T. Endo, get through with you, you will tell me all there is to know about the Casters." He let Soran's head drop before clonking him over it.

As Slicer turned to leave he heard something. "Hmhmhmhm. Ha ha ha ha ha!" Soran threw his head back and laughed. "You retard. Even if I told you, this dimension would be destroyed before you'd even pop the cork on your bottle of champagne. My determination will hold, no matter what you do, because the lives of every dimension count on it!"

Slicer jabbed Barrage right where the sun didn't shine and got within a half inch of the suffering man. "No matter what is an awful lot, Mister BERKT. I know of far greater pains to inflict than this. Far greater wounds to inflict than your past dismemberment. Remember, voice is only one way to communicate. I could easily sever your vocal chords and not care a lick."

"Heh." Soran coughed. "Why don't you just lobotomize me and put my brain in a jar? Save yourself the trouble. Even then you won't find what you're looking for."

"Are you really so stubborn as that?" Slicer snarled. "What drives you to endure such pain?"

"An oath that you can't possibly begin to understand."

"We will see, Mr. Berkt. We will see." Slicer backed away, closing the cell and locking it.

Nanoha and Fate sat in the waiting room of one of the TSAB head offices at the main headquarters in Mid-Childia. The security officers spoke to each other for a moment as they passed on to the next shift, the graveyard shift. "Ah mou!" Nanoha stretched. "How much longer are they going to keep us waiting here? We haven't seen anyone go in or out of there in hours!"

"Please compose yourself Nanoha-chan." Fate whispered. "The fact that they're having us here this late means it must be important."

"Unh… but even so… the way things are going we might be here until tomorrow night."

"I know… this is beyond bizarre when it comes to procedure, but we have to choice but to bear it for now." Fate folded her arms under her chest as she looked around. The vid-window behind the security guard had changed from a news program to a movie.

This movie was showing on every viewscreen in the complex. "What are you watching, anyway?" One of the prison guards asked the other as he entered to take the other shift. Behind them was the Divine Trinity, shielded and locked up, motionless.

"I dunno, some classic Terran movie. I missed the title."

On the video, ominous footsteps echoed. Barrage began to glow. "_He looked like a man cut away from the stake, when the fire has overrunningly wasted all the limbs without consuming them, or taking away one particle from their compacted aged robustness..._" The guards turned towards it, barely hearing the whisper as they got closer. "_Threading its way out from among his grey hairs, and continuing right down one side of his tawny scorched face and neck, till it disappeared in his clothing, you saw a slender rod-like mark, lividly whitish. It resembled that perpendicular seam sometimes made in the straight, lofty trunk of a great tree, when the upper lightning tearingly darts down it, and without wrenching a single twig, peels and grooves out the bark from top to bottom ere running off into the soil, leaving the tree still greenly alive, but branded._"

"Who's this thing talking about?"

"Ahab." A voice said quickly before both collapsed to the floor. A young girl with a pointed visor over her eyes and brass knuckled gloves on her hands was revealed. "Barrage, are you okay?"

"_You are…_"

She searched the man's pockets and used the override key and his thumbprint to unlock the field. "We don't have much time, can you lead me to him?" She reached for the keys.

The light in Soran's cell had been turned up as bright as possible, to the point where it was starting to give him sunburn, even on his eyelids. "Don't gawk for too long." He said as he lifted his head, smiling.

The girl sighed, smiling a little. "Didn't think a juicy fart would wind you up here, did you?"

"Can't say I did, but you really should stop. If you do this, there's no going back. You should return to your mothers right now."

She shook her head, taking off the visor. "Now there really is no going back. Today, I'm going to be the one to protect Sora-nii. Sacred Heart!" Kris gleamed a bright red crystal on her chest as her barrier jacket formed around her. "This kind of thing isn't for a little girl to deal with. Soran, I'm borrowing your blades." Kiryu appeared at her fingertips and she took two hard slashes, adding her own magic power to the attack. The attack overloaded the field generators around the cell and ripped apart a portion of the bars. Divine Trinity returned to key form and she tossed them inside.

"Heh." Soran tensed his mechanical arm, ripping apart his cuffs. His right hand caught the keys as he punched his leg restraints, shattering them. "Who's the mean one now?" Klaxons began to ring out all over the facility. Soran emerged from the cell, his barrier jacket on level two. "I hope you have a good escape plan."

"Does high-velocity, high-power destruction sound good? I call it the Getting-the-Hell-Out-Of-Here maneuver." They broke into a run down the hallway.

"Warning. Warning. Prison break in the maximum security section. Warning. Warning. Prison break in the maximum security section." Activating lockdown procedures. A blast door closed ahead of them.

"I'm not quite familiar with that one. Would you mind demonstrating?" Soran slid to a halt, his shooting staff covering the rear.

"Certainly." Vivio dove for the door. On the opposite side two dents in succession were bowed out before Vivio's foot sent it flying. "High-power."

"There they are! Stop them! Open fire!"

"ACS STANDBY." The cuffs around Soran's ankles glowed red, and he grabbed her at the waist.

"And high-velocity." He lifted her up as they rocketed forward, speeding through closing blast doors.

"See, now you're getting it!" She giggled.

Sirens blared throughout TSAB HQ, as outside, searchlights turned on. "Warning. Warning. Security breach in maximum security sector. Requesting all combat mages for immediate assistance. Warning… Warning…."

The alert roused Nanoha from her nap. "What? A security breach here?"

"Nanoha-chan." Fate said quickly.

"Ah. Raising Heart."

"Bardiche."

"Set up!" Their uniforms dissolved off of their bodies, their custom barrier jackets appearing soon after. Raising Heart transformed into Bayonet Mode straight away, and Bardiche in Zanber Mode. Fate turned to the security guard. "Is that auto-repair glass?"

"Um… I-I think so…." He ducked as Nanoha tossed a shot through it, sending it to pieces as they took to the sky.

"Aye…" Nanoha frowned. "Just who could breech the security in this area?"

"Probably someone only we could take down." Fate lowered her brow.

"Eh?"

"I don't believe in coincidences…." Fate trailed off as flashes of light came from below. "Nanoha, there! The detention center!" Scores of security personnel were pouring into the doors.

"Think they have enough?" Nanoha asked no one in particular.

"You think they have enough?" Vivio grunted as she put up a barrier where she and Soran were holed up, reaching a door too thick for her to take down.

"Just hang on for a bit. I'll give us a way out." Multicolored lights shone around him as he pointed his staff up.

"But the only way to do that is…."

"… to blow a hole straight through the roof." Nanoha shrugged.

No sooner did she say it than it tore open in a blaze of swirling, multi-colored light. Both Nanoha and Fate had to fall back to avoid it. Fate's eyes went wide. "That's Trinity Buster!"

"Then… no… It can't be Soran-kun!" As if to answer her question, a dimensional rupture opened, Soran's ship emerging before closing behind them, a shockwave pushing them further back. "The Star?"

Fate's hand went to her ear. "Attention Outlaw Star, this is Commander Fate T. H. Takamachi, Gillium, do you read?" The base's defenses turned on the machine, peppering it with beam spray. It returned fire. "No! Hold your fire, Gillium! There's got to be some mistake here, so stop firing!"

"_Puddlejump complete. Next jump available in 30 seconds._" Gillium echoed in Soran's ear.

"Open the hatch, we're coming up." Soran answered.

Vivio coughed through the cloud of dust. "You overdid it, Sora-nii."

"Complain when we're not about to get killed. Come on!" He started up the hole he created.

"Gillium, stand down! This is an order!" Fate yelled.

A bright light appeared on the side of the ship. "He's opening the hatch!" Nanoha gasped. "They're going to jump out!" She dashed forward.

"Nanoha-chan!" Fate cried after her.

Soran blew out of the roof and rose, meeting Nanoha at altitude, eye to eye. "Ah shit…."

Her breath caught in her chest. "Soran-kun!" She reached out.

"No… mama…" Vivio was still unnoticed under him. She balled her fist, a tear running down her cheek. "Gomen ne…."

An attack erupted from the roof, splitting into three golden beams. "Eh?" Nanoha pulled back. "Wait, that's Fate-chan's Trident Smasher! But the only person who could duplicate that was…." She rose passed her mother, taking her breath from her as their eyes met. The look in Vivio's red and green gaze was identical to the time when they fought in the Sankt Cradle. "No… No, Vivio!" Her composure broke as she threw herself against the golden bars of energy. "Vivio! VIVIO!" The magical attack tore her barrier jacket and burnt her skin, but she didn't care. "Don't! Don't go!"

Fate yanked her away before she could do more harm, cradling her close. She couldn't bear to look. She knew it was already too late. She barely heard the Star shut the airlock over Nanoha's screams and sobs, but she did see it jump into another dimension over her lover's shoulders. At that point, it was official, they were fugitives, and there was nothing more they could do.

With tears streaming down her face, Nanoha swallowed hard. "That's the second time that boy has taken my daughter from me."

Soran entered the bridge, his hair damp from his shower. "Damn it, I still feel like shit." He said as he climbed into the captain's chair, slamming his head back into the rest. "Gillium, what's our status?"

"_Currently in slipstream. So far we have gone undetected by sticking to the known rim sectors._"

"Vivio, set us a course to Vizen. That's the furthest dimensional port from the military sectors."

"_Vivio Takamachi is currently in her quarters._"

"Eh? Then who's flying the…" He sat up to match a stare from a silent pale-green-haired girl with one blue eye and one purple, sitting in the navigator's chair.

"Einhart Stratos." She answered quietly.

Soran's brow quivered. He slammed his finger on the shipwide. "VIVIO, get your butt up here!"

Hayate scowled before pinching the bridge of her nose. "Commander, with all due respect, this is not something that should have been concealed to us for so long."

The gray-bearded man on the other end of the communication screen looked away, scratching his cheek. "I realize this."

"Do you? People have DIED, Commander. Thousands of them, and you only now tell me that this… Book of the Silver Cross and ES Divider is the weapon they're using?"

"Commander Yagami, surely you understand the position I am in. I was pressured to keep this a secret even in the midst of your investigation. I am speaking to you under great personal risk in revealing this information. This Tome and Blade Lost Logia is very precious research material."

"And for the sake of money, people died without us ever being able to prevent it. How many of my team could have been murdered by these people before you told us? If it weren't for Soran's personal sacrifice to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy, we would be jumping into a death trap at every call. Only now have we started making modifications to our weapons and defenses. How many more will be wiped out in the meantime? We needed to know this from day one!"

"Apologies are obviously not enough at this point, Commander. I have provided as much as I can give. Your team will have to follow up on the rest." He forcibly ended the call.

"Kuso…." Hayate looked at the file that had coalesced on her desk. Immediately, her video line started ringing again. Without even looking at the identification code, she connected it. "What?"

Fate blinked in surprise at the grumpy commander. "Hayate, have you been in contact with Soran at all in the past 48 hours?"

"Eh? No. It's his off day, why?"

"Because he just busted out of the maximum security detention facility at HQ and jumped out with the Star."

"Huh? Why would he be detained? I didn't receive any notifications." Hayate stood, biting her lip. "Let me make some calls. See what I can find out." She reached for the disconnect button.

"There's more. He had an accomplice from the outside…. Someone who appeared to be… Vivio." She looked away, her lip quivering. "We haven't heard anything from the house, so we can only assume it's her."

"Fate-chan… is Nanoha…"

"She's dealing with it as best she can. Hayate, too much doesn't add up here. We were on-site waiting on a meeting far into the night, and then he and Vivio just jumped out after attacking base personnel. I don't know what to believe right now, but our daughter just left with her former kidnapper… after defending him against us."

"Fate-chan…." She sighed through her nose as she looked at the file on her desk. "What time is it right now?"

"3:45 AM, why?"

"No, it's not. You reported this to me at 4:45 AM."

"But I…."

"I was on the line at 3:45, and you decided to try again in an hour. You reported this to me at 4:45 AM, understood?"

Realization washed over her face. "Understood." The woman ended the call quickly.

Hayate closed her eyes, fighting down anger and frustration and the fatigue on top of that as well. "Soran, I don't know what the hell you're up to…." She quickly made a copy of the Silver Cross documents and attached it to a message, which she immediately sent. "But beyond this, I can't support you. You're on your own." She slumped into her chair, a tear running down her cheek. "God DAMN IT!" She slammed her fist on the table.

Vivio scratched her cheek. "Well, Star needed a pilot for this one, and I couldn't ask anyone else without the risk of being caught. But you can trust Einhart, she's my friend!"

"That's not the point, Vivio! You just involved someone that had no business being involved in this! Does she even understand the risks? The sacrifice?"

"Of course she does! I wouldn't have let her come if…."

"'She' is standing right here." The girl interjected, a sour tone in her voice. "Vivio is a true friend. I could not stand by and watch." A baby tiger hopped onto the girl's shoulder. "Teo and I both agreed that we need to do this, to make sure everyone comes home."

"Kuso…" Soran slammed his palm on his forehead. "I can't believe I'm stuck with two early teen girls while on AWOL."

"By the way, Sora-nii, what ARE we going to do anyway?"

"We need to risk a jump to an administrated sector for a bit. I have to set an auto-transfer of messages from Touma to Su, plus pull out as much money as possible before the account is frozen. I would suggest you two do the same." Soran hopped into the captain's seat.

"But that still doesn't answer my question. What are we going to do from here?"

"The Casters are too tempting for organizations to avoid, and too dangerous to let them have. If I can't guard them anymore, then I'll have to find a way to destroy them. We're going the Leyline!"

'The universe…' The blonde teen walked down the hall of an old, wooden church. 'To them it's at peace. But turmoil has never been closer, and my answer still hasn't shown its face.' "Excuse me, I was told I could deliver a message here?" He handed a data sheet to the nun at the desk.

"A telegram to Mid-childia?"

"Hai."

"You're a traveler then?" She looked up, squinting past her glasses.

"Hai."

"I'll make sure this is sent once the line is free. Where are you headed, if I may, young one?"

Touma beamed a smile at her. "To the ruins past the mine. We're going treasure hunting and also…."

"For photography." Steed said in turn, dangling on his neck.


	7. Chapter 7

Leyline Expedition Force 7

Dear Soran-san and Su-chan,

I hope you've both been well. Two days ago I entered the cultural reservation in Ruella. Even after all my selfishness, I think I'm going to limit myself to three months out solo. Communication across dimensions is difficult at best here, so I won't be in repeat contact.

But even so, I'm boiling over with excitement. Steed is showing me so much that I didn't know. We really are exploring the world as it was meant to be seen, while I find the answer I've been searching for.

Signed, Touma

"Oi, Steed. It'll probably be nightfall around our arrival, right?" Touma slung his bag over his shoulder, taking a relaxed pace on the trail.

"It appears so. Will you have enough rations for the duration? My information delineates many edible plants in this area."

"I should be good, but give me an overview just in case, kay?"

Steed brought up a viewscreen as Touma continued to climb through the hills, sliding down the valleys, and taking in the sights. "You are not getting bored with this, are you Touma?"

"Bored? I'm eating this up." The sun set in the valley behind him. "This is the best trip ever!"

* * *

><p>"Kuso, this is the worst trip ever." Soran slumped as he trudged through the bazaar, the bags of food in his grip nearly scraping the pavement.<p>

"It's not like it could be helped, Sora-nii." Vivio walked next to him in adult form, sunglasses over her eyes to hide her heterochromea. She had grocery bags in the crook over her arms as well. "You knew they'd freeze your assets, and I don't get an allowance from my parents, so I don't have an account."

"I know, I know. Just didn't think they'd do it so quickly. I was still hoping to at least get some new clothes. In the end we wound up having to resupply the ship's galley with the last of my cash, and even then, for the three of us, it will only last a week at most."

"Well we need to look ahead. Maybe Ein-chan will have better luck."

* * *

><p>Touma hoisted himself over a rock. "Ah! There it is! I can see the ruins!" He stared at it in awe. A crumbled Victorian structure stood there, just barely overgrown with foliage.<p>

"Destination reached: Ruins of the Ruella Mines."

"Unh. It was worth the walk. Just look at it!"

"Even so, night has fallen. We should find a suitable campsite." Touma shrugged, letting his bag off his shoulder.

* * *

><p>"Woaaaa…" Soran's and Vivio's jaws dropped, a bright, glistening light shone on their faces. The light faded as Einhart closed the safe, which was nearly as tall as she was.<p>

"It stands to reason, if you think logically." She crossed her arms as she leaned against the door. "I was the only one not seen, therefore my assets were not frozen. I withdrew a small portion of my account in anticipation of your… lack of success."

Vivio tried to count it all out on her fingers. "And that's a small portion, you say? Ein-chan, you're really well off…."

"Even so, I don't really feel this is right." Soran bit his thumb. "Stratos, you were never supposed to get involved with this anyway. To have you fund us like this… even if it's a small amount to you, it's too big for me to take."

"Then perhaps it would be better to consider it as a loan. Once your assets are released, you can pay me back however you see fit." She walked up to Soran and stared unblinkingly into his eyes. "Sometimes doing what's right means doing things you're uncomfortable with."

"Yeah… yeah I guess so." He sighed. "Thank you. But I will pay you back, I promise."

"I'll make sure to work hard too, since I don't have any money to contribute!" Vivio pressed her fists against her chest. "I know! I'll cook!"

"HELL NO!" Einhart, Soran, and even Gillium yelled in unison.

* * *

><p>"Hmm?" Touma looked up from his fire, down to the ruins below. "Oi oi, there are lights down there! Are there people in the ruins?"<p>

"In this desolate area?" Steed puzzled over the new information as well. "I believe I see a vehicle."

"What the hell is all this? Let's get a closer look." Soran went in search of a better vantage point.

Steed sighed. "Must we?"

At ground level, a woman in a lab coat was looking over some data as two guards with projectile weaponry and armor surveyed the area. "The data and equipment have moved out as scheduled, sir." She spoke to a labcoated man that emerged from the ruins. "All that's left is the material used…."

"Scrap all of it. Lay waste to it here and now."

Touma squatted down behind a bush, letting Steed's display zoom in on the figures below. "I can understand the donated bodies, but the Strosek too?"

"You don't stay attached to a single failure from the past. All we have to do is write in a new owner into the Silver Cross at a later date."

Steed was the first to comment. "This seems a major production for just transporting things away."

"Yeah, I probably shouldn't involve myself." Touma scratched his head. "I'll just sneak away quietly and…"

'The pain!' A weak whisper reached into his mind. A whisper, coupled with a massive headache. Touma collapsed to his knees, gripping his forehead. 'So much pain!'

"Agh…."

"Touma?"

"What is this voice?" He closed one eye as he tried to stand. "Telepathy doesn't project pain!"

"I assure you I've said nothing."

"It's… coming from the ruins!" He flung his free hand towards it. "Someone's begging for help!" He reached for his bag.

"Touma, think this through please…."

"I can't ignore it. She's crying 'Help me!'"

"Yeah… right." Steed rolled its eye. "If you get hurt here, those two will never let me live it down, you realize."

"Daijobu, partner. I'll be careful."

* * *

><p>The chime to Soran's room rang. "Enter." He put down his book.<p>

"Am I disturbing you, Captain?" Einhart entered, a folder held against her chest.

"C-captain…"

"That's what Gillium calls you, is it not?"

"Yeah, but I usually ignore him to begin with. I'd rather not be put on that kind of pedestal by you and Vivio if possible. Is there something you need?"

"Oh, yes. I wanted to give my report." She stopped in front of his desk. "I did as you had asked and forwarded your incoming mail. Subaru Nakajima will receive them in her inbox, assuming they are not intercepted by TSAB. However I found one file of interest that I believe was meant for your eyes only. I have made a printout of it." She slid it over to him. The From line read Colonel Yagami Hayate.

* * *

><p>Touma ducked into the ruins, moving past workers and guards, sticking to the shadows as best as possible. He gasped as he rounded a corner, the walls covered with metal panels, and glass tubes lining the halls. "These aren't ruins…. This is a research facility?"<p>

Steed floated passed the glass tubes. Inside each was an extracted brain and brain stem. Each was underweight and misshapen, strange fibers running through at odd angles. "I do not like the looks of this…."

'The pain…' The voice was getting weaker.

'W-wait for me…' He tried to think back, past the burning in his forehead. He came across a heavy security door. 'I'll free you from that pain.' A magical circle appeared under his feet.

"_Dispel._" Steed spoke as Touma raised his hand.

"Unlock override." A magical circle expanded from his palm which separated the door. He checked for guards first before entering. Finding none, he entered. Looking up, he halted in shock. At the far end of the room, a pedestal stood there, a large slab of metal in the shape of a coffin. On it, was what could only be described as a crucified angel, a teenage girl cuffed to the slab naked, her blonde hair reaching down to her knees. She stared at the newcomer with a tear in her eye.

A searing pain entered his left eye, sending him to the floor. A magical scrawl encircled his right wrist, and immediately klaxons and alarms went off throughout the facility. Alerts popped up in windows around the scientists. "An intruder, now?"

"Sir, something's come into contact with Strosek 4!"

'Don't….' She whispered.

"This is…. There's a reaction, sir!"

Touma was sprawled on the floor, completely disabled. 'It's painful. It's scary. It's lonely. You can't be in this place!' She yelled to his mind.

"It's fine." The boy grunted, forcing himself to his feet, blood running down his cheek from his burning eye. "Don't cry." He wiped it off, and showed her a determined smile. "Because I'm here to save you from that." A similar scrawl appeared on her wrist, reacting to the one on his, and the slab began to crack and buckle. "Oh shi-!" He jumped forward.

Steed looked away as the slab came crashing down, spitting up dust and rock. Touma slowly emerged from the cloud, coughing. "Well that sucked. You okay? Deh…." 'Totally naked?' He gulped. "C-clothes! Steed, find some clothes, a towel, anything!" He put her down, doing his best not to look at her.

"Over here. I think there is something…."

The man in the lab coat snarled, balling his fist at the proceedings. "Mark it as a failure!"

"Sir?"

"Burn the contract room, the Strosek, and the Intruder! I want all of it ash!"

Touma had just finished putting a medical smock over the girl's head when the computer system in the base spoke. "Warning. Warning. Infection quarantine has been breached. Proceeding with heat sanitization. All personnel evacuate the area immediately."

"Deh, heat? As in fire?" Touma jolted up. Nozzles in the ceiling began emitting a gaseous spray.

"This presents a problem. My parts will fuse in heat." Steed tapped the lanyard clip on his body.

"Steed, back me up!" Touma slammed his palm on the floor, spreading a magical circle.

"_Protection._"

"Countdown initiated…"

"Sorry…." Touma grunted in strain as he fought back against the chemicals, as magical generators charged up around the room, ready to ignite. "I guess I crashed in and things turned out like this." The girl looked on with a sad and confused face. "But don't worry. I'll help you out of this somehow." He flashed her another grin before returning to the task at hand.

* * *

><p>The lighting of the Star turned red. "<em>Alert. Alert. Slipstream rupture imminent."<em>

Soran burst into the bridge. "Talk to me!"

"A Slipstream rupture is beginning to form over the city. From the size of the event, it looks like it may be a TSAB Interceptor-class."

"Shit, we're bugging out!" Soran flung himself into the Captain's chair. "Jettison the docking clamps, ignite the engines, and prepare for immediate Slipstream jump!"

"_Captain, the boarding platform appears to be locked in place. I cannot override it."_

"If we launch with that thing still attached, we'll damage the hull!" Vivio checked the camera, overlooking the drawbridge.

Soran bit his thumb. "We need to go before that Interceptor arrives or we'll be traced!"

"Then what should we do, Sora-nii?" Vivio looked to him in earnest.

"Shoot it off. Man the turret and take it out!" The anti-air gun above the hatch activated and tore through the bridge. "Now Stratos!"

"Outlaw Star, hashin!"

The ship rose into the atmosphere. "_Beginning jump sequence. The Slipstream rupture will occur in five seconds. Four. Three."_

* * *

><p>"Five, four, three, two, one…."<p>

The girl's face became resolute, and their hands with the magic scrawl touched. 'Engage.'

"Zero. Igniting." The facility turned into an inferno that would melt nearly anything.

The scientist sighed. "Did that do it?"

"Plasma arc reads no abnormalities."

"Heh. Even if there was a magical barrier, nothing could have…" The viewscreen returned, revealing the melted husks, and a blonde boy rising from the middle of the molten hell. "They survived. Only a complete contract would hold functionality at those temperatures. We've just created…." The boy stepped forward, a strange open book hovering behind him. He carried the girl in his arms with no effort at all, and as he raised his head, his eyes glared with rage. "That kind of a demon!"

The Touma that stood before them was not the boy that entered. This one's hair was bleached and spiked. A sleeveless, black barrier jacket with a red scarf clung to a surprisingly muscular form. His forearms and legs were clad in armor, and his exposed skin showed signs of wispy purple tattoos. He flung his hand out, and in it appeared a weapon, a six-barrel pistol with a blade underneath the barrel, twice as long as the barrel itself. "_E-C Divider Code-996_." It spoke. The boy lifted it into the air, almost robotically. "_Start up._"

In a near monotone, he whispered. "Divide Zero." A white light erupted from the barrel, quickly spreading into a type of devastation not seen since Nanoha's Divine Buster EX. It burst through every level of the facility, the shockwave erupting from the ruins and sending the workers to be splattered against the rocks. The attack's light reached into the atmosphere, and could be seen for miles if anyone had been watching. He stood there, unblinking, that look of rage still on his face.

"Touma! TOUMA!"

"Eh?" He blinked. "Huh? WHA?" Steed's voice had brought him out of his stupor as he surveyed the damage.

"Are you…" Steed pulled out of his hiding place in his cuff. "Okay? And what's with the weird outfit?"

"Wha? What the heck is this thing?" He waved the gun around. Suddenly it shattered into magical particles, and his civilian clothes recoalesced. His hair and eyes returned to their normal shade, and there was no sign of the tattoos he had when transformed. "Uh? What…." He pulled back his sleeve, to find a golden bracelet on his right arm. "Where did this come from?" The girl just sat on her knees, giving him a quizzical look. "Oh, uh… sorry, are you okay?" He held his hand out to her. "I'm Touma. Touma Avenir. And you?"

'L-Lily… Lily Strosek.' She whispered to his mind.

Touma understood then that she was mute. "Lily… such a cute name." With that smile, the girl's tears began to flow, and she threw herself at him. 'Awkward… awkward!' He gulped. "I-In any case, we need to get somewhere safe. Steed, scan the area!"

"Already on it."

* * *

><p>"Sora-nii, you okay?" Vivio peeked into his room.<p>

"Yeah… sorta…." He sighed. "Not really." He tossed the file onto his desk. "We can't go back to the administrated sectors without being flagged by TSAB, which means we have to stick to the unadministrated clusters on the rim. But that means we're being thrown right into the fire!" He pinched the bridge of his nose. "The Huckbein are out here, somewhere, waiting to strike. If we're in the wrong place, we'll be a part of another slaughter." He slammed his hand on the folder.

"What is that anyway, Soran? You've been pouring over it all day."

"Hayate sent this to me. It's about a Lost Logia that looks like it's involved in the Huckbein case. If you see this book, or this gunblade, run like hell, because the entire town is about to be murdered."

* * *

><p>Through the smoke and sirens of Administrated World Vedika, a cargo train's door was wrenched open. "Egh." A redhead with two pistols marked with crosses sighed. A vidcom screen popped up next to her. "Reporting in, Commander. Our target was not in the confiscated containers."<p>

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Teana-san." The blonde commander answered. "We need to check every lead. After all, we cannot let anyone be infected by Eclipse."

"Yes. Yes, you're right, Fate-sempai." She wiped her brow. "If anyone were to become infected, they must be captured at all costs."

In the twilight hours, Lily rode on Touma's shoulders, wearing a smile that she had thought she had forgotten, while the boy spoke to her without a hint of strain in his voice, his smile matching hers.


	8. Chapter 8

Leyline Expedition Force 8

'The technologically advanced world of Midchildia seems so far away right now.' Touma thought as he climbed the rocky hill, Lily still on his shoulders. 'Away from here, Ruwella, where humans and nature live harmoniously. This is the place where the vintage styles still linger, and travel and communication are conveniences for the wealthy.' At the top of the mound, he stopped, gazing over the small rooftops below, covered in red shingles and stucco. "Finally, we found a town!" He whistled. "What a sight!" 'This is truly a place where you can forget the city.'

"Would you like me to take a photo of this, Touma?" Steed said, prepping his lens.

"Nah, I'm just taking it in." He huffed. "It was a long haul. Which reminds me…" He glanced over his shoulder. "How are you feeling, Lily? Are you tired at all? We should probably take a break and get some grub once we get inside."

'Okay, Touma.' She smiled.

"Analyzing the reviews, this place is especially renowned for its quality ingredients. There are mentions of a seafood stew with fire-roasted clams and…

"Enough, Steed, I'm starving over here!" Touma chuckled it off, but as they got closer, his thoughts turned somber. 'Last night… she only slept for a short time, and was crying the whole way through. To be trapped, tortured in such a place… I have no idea what she's been through. I have so many questions. About this weird bracelet, and what happened at that lab. But now's not the time. We have to get somewhere safe, and then ask for Soran and Su's advice, assuming that weird company didn't lock down the comms. But most of all…' "Man, am I hungry!" They crossed the access bridge into the village proper. "I think I'm going to pick up the pace and run. Forgive the bumpy ride, Lily, but I really need some grub." She nodded, holding him tighter. "Okay. Touma DASHU!" The piggyback couple went through the city as casual observers got a kick out of the assumed lovers affection.

* * *

><p>On the unadministered world of Ishta, what was once a village was now a smoldering hulk of ruin, two craters in a forest. "Th-there were two of them, only two…" A woman in tribal clothing sobbed, bandages covering her as she cradled a lone child. "A man and a woman, in one breath, destroyed this land."<p>

The redheaded Enforcer known as Teana Lanster stood up, surveying the damage, as the rest of her team lined up the dead in dozens upon dozens of body bags. "Two people did this to the village in such a short amount of time? How could someone do that much destruction?"

"The man had a gun like I had never seen. The woman had a black book." She nodded solemnly. "If it weren't for your advance team, I would have joined them, and this child would be left alone."

Tea lowered her brow as she pulled out two photos from her pocket. "Is this what you're speaking of?"

She gripped the little girl tightly in fear. "Those things! That demonic pistol with a blade attached! The black book with a holy cross!" She degenerated into sobs and maddened babbles.

Tea sighed as she rejoined the investigative team. "There's no mistaking it, Enforcer." One said.

"Ah. Nine times out of ten this will be one infected by Eclipse."

"If it weren't for the anonymous tip we received, then we might have missed this one." A second sighed. "Perhaps it's the Huckbein?"

"It wouldn't be surprising. The fact that we were investigating elements of the same thing for so long without even knowing…" She looked down a ruined alleyway, and saw a flash of blue, and trail of a long blonde ponytail. She blinked. "We'll look at it from that angle first. I'll leave the details to you."

"Yes, ma'am." He recorded the message on a pad. "Ma'am, where are you…."

"Following a hunch." She waved without turning around, her brow in a scowl. She turned down the alleyway, her gun at the ready as she slinked around the shadows. A groan and a yelp of pain reached her ear from a hut that was barely still standing.

"GYAAAAH!" A young boy screamed inside.

Tea blocked the entrance, Cross Mirage pointed directly at a man's head, who had green undertones in his dark hair. "I know that hurt, but it needed to be done. Try not to do too much with it until the rest of you is fully healed. Hate to say it, but if you're not careful, you'll yank your arm out of the socket again." He tilted his head slightly as he moved to the side. "Looks like the evacuation team is here. Go find them and they'll take you to somewhere safe."

"Th-thank you." A boy hobbled along, his wounds tightly bound, his left arm clutching his right shoulder. He barely took notice of the woman as he left.

"About time you showed up," The would-be doctor turned around. "Tea. It's been a long time. If this were in better circumstances, I'd say you got prettier."

"Soran…" Her grip on the gun tightened. "So it was you. You traitorous SOB, what the fuck have you done?"

"You mean aside from sending that tip in to your personal line? Or maybe keeping these survivors alive long enough for your rescue crew to finally show up?"

"I don't mean that, you asshole! What you've done to Subaru, to Nanoha-san and Fate-san! Stealing the Star? Assaulting TSAB on their own base? Kidnapping a little girl?" Her finger twitched on the trigger. "Why is it everything you do manages to hurt someone close to you? I should just shoot you and end everyone's suffering!"

"I wouldn't recommend that." He crossed his arms. "Because she won't allow it."

Tea suddenly became aware of the presence that had powered up next to her, an adult Vivio, her eyes steady in determined watch as she was posed to strike if a hair moved incorrectly. "It was my choice." She whispered.

"God, how do I get myself into this crap?" Tea sighed as Cross Mirage dissolved into card form. "You mind telling me what's going on here?"

"TSAB is playing dirty. They want the Casters to use as a weapon, and they've hired some outsiders to get it." Soran shrugged, shaking his head. "Really, it's no different than the JS Incident, those brainjars ordering the research in the first place."

"So that's why you went rouge. To keep that information from falling into their hands." Teana sighed. "But how do you explain Vivio?"

"TSAB is cooperating with a freelancer who's after the Casters, a very dangerous one who comes from an unadministered world. I gave up to give Vivio a chance to escape, and in return, she sprung me from Midchildia. We wound up here making a quickjump to avoid an Interceptor. That's when we found this place."

"So you expect me to believe that none of this is your fault? That you didn't cause this destruction? Your being here is too coincidental for that!" Tea balled her fist and shook it at him.

"You should know by now what I'm capable of, Tea, and this isn't it. I've seen this kind of damage once before with Colonel Yagami, when that crazy idol girl started massacring that city. Now it's my turn to ask you something. What exactly are we dealing with here?"

She took the photos out of her pocket and flung them at his feet. "We're tracking down a medical condition, almost like a virus, called Eclipse. We don't know what causes it, but those who have it are capable of bloodshed of this magnitude, and always seem to use those."

"The Book of the Silver Cross." Tea's eyes widened in surprise. "So in the end it's the same thing Hayate was looking into."

Tea slumped. "So that's how…. We've combined our investigation into one now. Eclipse Infected and Silver Cross users are one in the same."

"I see…." Soran sighed. "I'll continue to flag you if we come across any more, but I won't be stopping to help anymore."

"You're acting like I'm just going to let you leave, Soran. You're a wanted man. I have to turn you in."

"But you won't. I just did you a favor, and a big one. And I know how much you love owing me favors. So you're going to clear it right now." Soran crossed his arms as he leaned against the table.

"You're an asshole."

"I love you too."

* * *

><p>"It looks like Tea-chan made it to the crime scene." Shari spoke as Fate drove.<p>

"Any luck tracking down the source of that tip?" She replied, her eyes never leaving the road.

"None. Though we can narrow some of the candidates down, it did go to her personal line after all."

"Our information network centralizes here in Vaisen, so we'll handle the wide area from here. We'll leave the pinpointing to them."

"Yeah, but even with the investigative units on the move," Shari sighed. "I'm wondering if they have enough people."

"As long as they're on the move, then it's fine. There's no way to track every lead all the time." Fate checked the time. "Let's just hope the others begin to move soon as well."

* * *

><p>"Hayate-chan." Rein stood at the door of the woman's new office, a state of the art facility in their new battleship, the Wolfram. "The press conference is starting soon."<p>

"Unh." She whispered, finishing her document before closing it down.

"To finally christen the ship, it's kind of exciting."

"Ah." Hayate stood, grabbing her overcoat. "As always, thank you for all your hard work." The little girl smiled. "Then let's go. No need to keep everyone waiting."

* * *

><p>"Interdimensional communications?" A kebab vendor responded to Touma's question solemnly. "I don't know of any high tech like that in this town."<p>

"Ah… well it's not like I was expecting a yes."

"I think the best place for an interdimensional letter or electronic message… they have a unit at the church on the opposite mountainside."

"Oh, yeah I know about that one. I've been there."

"Then you know as much as me. But thanks for waiting. Here are your clam skewers, enjoy!"

"Thanks a bunch."

"It went as we thought." Steed nearly sighed as they walked away.

"Unh. Well we have other things to take care of. Lily needs some clothes and shoes before we make such a long trip."

"Agreed."

As they arrived at the central fountain, they found the girl sitting there peacefully. "Sorry for the wait, Lily." He handed her a skewer. As she fawned over the flavor, Touma turned to Steed. "So we found a boarding house to sleep at, but what about clothing?"

"For that, may I suggest the flea market at the bazaar?"

"Not a bad idea. Hey Lily, let's head there after you're… deh… you're done already?"

'I couldn't help it. I've never tasted such flavor before! So yummy!' Hearts were floating above her head as she thought it. Touma just scratched his head.

After rushing to catch up with the food, and nearly choking on a piece of it in the process, he carried her over to the shops. "A lot more stuff here than I thought. We might just have a shot."

"Hai, ireshai ireshai! Get your beautiful clothing and accessories right here!" A young teenage girl with nearly black hair pinned up into a short pigtail on the left side called out. Wearing a tank top with a short jersey coat, her bellybutton fully exposed, she looked the least likely to be a shopkeep. As they passed, she grinned. "Hey, you two lovely people, I've got some cute clothes just for you!"

"Um, she needs a good pair of shoes and a set of clothing. Have a matching set?"

"I gotcha taken care of! I need her shoe size and her other three sizes."

"Um… well…" Touma blushed and looked away.

She got an opportuned look on her face. "Looks like I get to size her myself." Touma gulped, not knowing what to make of that look. "I'll give you a haircut too if you want." She winked. "But only if you buy a set of clothes!" A few minutes and a few scissor snips and her hair was perfectly trimmed. "Finished! So how is it? Your hair was so thick, it must be great to lighten the load a bit, right?"

'Amazing. My head feels so good!' She spoke to Touma.

"Well I like it." Touma put in his two cents.

"Success!" The tailor/barber/shopkeep pumped her fist. "And to pair that gorgeous hair with… this dress!" Lily was given a long skirt to cover her stocking-wrapped legs. Her top was conservative and ladylike, a ruffled bow with a brooch decorating her neckline gently. "Cute, isn't it?"

Both Touma and Lily applauded. "Cute. Very cute."

"Glad you like it. And here's some boots to go with." Mid-leg boots with two buckles completed the ensemble, not too low or high.

"Now about the money. I expected to pay a lot more, is this okay?"

"Why not? I make them myself. It's more a hobby than anything."

"You're one skilled hobbyist." As Touma took out his wallet, his sleeve slipped down, revealing the bracelet.

Immediately, a shock of glee ran through the girl's brain. "Wow, now that's a beautiful bracelet! That's gold, isn't it? Is that solid gold? Your girlfriend is wearing one too, right? That's an incredible matching set!"

"Um…" He swallowed.

"Wha? There's no latch on it." She examined it further, to his dismay and awkwardness. "How do you take it off?"

'M-mazui…' Touma sweatdropped. "W-well that's the secret. Here's the money we owe you!" He shoved it into her hands.

"O-oh…" She went over to her cash box. "So there's a reason huh? If there's any way I can help you guys… auda?" She turned around and they weren't there. She found them halfway down the lane, scrambling about as fast as he could carry her. "Your change!"

"Keep it!" He yelled back. 'Young lady of the clothing shop, I hope we meet again… when you're not so curious.'

"You're welcome, and come again!"

* * *

><p>"Vivio…" Einhart knocked on her door. "Gillium said you were looking for me?" The door opened without her acknowledging. She found the girl sprawled out on her stomach, her face hidden by the cradle of her arms. "Should I… come back later?"<p>

"No." She sighed, raising her head enough to see above her arm. "How do you do it, Ein-chan? Put away your feelings, your regret. To not let it bother you."

"Is this about seeing Lanster-san again?" She sat down next to her.

"Unh." Vivio buried her head again. "Seeing her so angry, and not because she was suffering, but because everyone else was…. I think she might've really shot Sora-nii. It made me think about how many I've hurt by this decision." She sniffled. "Not just my mothers, but everyone else too that's been there for me. It's like I betrayed them as well."

"Vivio…."

"I'm so pathetic. I knew in my gut that joining Sora-nii was the right choice, but I can't get past the guilt. I'll never be like you."

"And you shouldn't be." She placed a hand on the girl's back, and the other against her heart. "The trait that you admire is one I dislike. To become as hardened as I've become took years of constant training and torture. But when others speak with me, they feel like I am cold. Unlike you, who's warm and kind, who wears her heart on her sleeve and everyone loves her for it. If anything, I admire you right now for being able to feel this hurt, because it's something I can no longer do."

"Uh?" Vivio pushed herself up to look at the girl, and found herself enveloped in a hug. "E-Ein-chan!"

"Don't change, Vivio. Stay the way you are, even if it hurts a bit now." She whispered into the girl's ear.

* * *

><p>"Whew!" Touma sighed as he surveyed the boarding house's separate beds. "Finally we can relax!" He took off his jacket and sat down, as Lily quietly observed. "Even if we left now, we'd get to the church way past dark. So let's rest here for the night, and leave at daybreak. Give us a chance to recharge our batteries before the long road ahead."<p>

'Unh.' Lily's whisper touched his mind. 'Touma, you sure are incredible, knowing so much.'

"Well I'm used to traveling. I've had a lot of training. I've always been a wanderer."

'Always?'

"Yeah, sort of." He leaned back. "This trip especially is a long one. I've been prepared to take odd jobs on the side or selling stuff while on the road."

'So… you're alone?'

"I wouldn't say that. I've got a place to go back to, but this journey is important, so I can find myself."

'You're searching for something like that?'

"Yeah, there are all sorts of things to find along the way. But if there was one thing I could stumble upon… I'd answer that one question…." Touma sighed. "But I'm not sure where I'd go from there if I actually found it. In any case, I guess traveling is in my blood, so it's not really that big of a deal to me."

Lily listened to him with a forlorn look. Once he finished she went onto her knees in front of him, an earnest, solemn look on her face. 'Touma, sorry and thank you. You were in the middle of something so important, and you interrupted it to rescue me. To go through all those frightening days just for me, and to be so kind….'

"No no, don't worry about it!" He started to feel awkward. "I did that because I wanted to! Besides…" He put his hands on her shoulders. "I was also rescued once, by two very kind people. So don't worry. I'll do everything I can to keep you from being hurt or lonely." He gave her a thumbs up.

'Unh. Thank you, Touma.' She held back a tear.

The sun was beginning to set on the bazaar, and all the shopkeepers were packing up for the evening. "Have to say, you were quite the hit today, young lady." One of the elder sellers complimented the black-haired girl.

"Hee hee! Thanks!"

"Okay, spread out and ask around. This town's too big not to have a lead." A man in a security outfit barked orders.

"Oi, that's the land patrol." The girl blinked. "Yo, Police-san, what's going on?"

"Hmm? You a local?"

"Nah, I'm an extended traveler. I get funds by selling handmade goods."

"That so? Then you'd probably have seen a boy about your age today, right? White coat, brown hair, possibly seen with a young girl."

"Ehhh? Why are you looking for him?"

"Well, without saying too much, he's a robbery suspect. We have a warrant. Something about the old ruins."

"Wowzers…."

* * *

><p>The moon was full in the sky when a soft knock came on the door, rousing Touma out of his sleep. "Please excuse me, this is the police. There was a robbery in the area recently, and I need to talk to you."<p>

For a second, Touma's hackles went up, his eyes glassing over. Lily and Steed rose as well, but he silenced them with a quiet hand. "I suppose talking won't hurt…." He said after a hesitant moment. On the other side of the door… "Eh? Clothing Shop girl? What are you doing here?"

"Sorry, but I've got something important to tell ya. The cops have got you pinned for robbery and they're trying to find you right now. Are they right?"

"Well… I wouldn't put it like that, but if you dumb it down... yeah they've got it right." He slumped, but quickly raised his head. "But I will say that what we did was not wrong."

"That so, huh? The patrols are probably heading this way, you know. It doesn't take a genius to figure out where you'd stay. If you wanna run, now is better than later."

"I should thank you. If this is extra service from your store, you've gone a bit too far for your customer. You'll be implicated, you know."

"Well, just call me a pretty eccentric clothing shop girl. You could also just call me pretty." She did her best impression of Konata from Lucky Star, cat-like mouth and all. Touma sweatdropped. "But I just changed employment. I'm now an Escape Route Guide. So?"

"What should we do, Touma?" Steed floated onto his neck.

"You're actually asking me?" He sighed.

* * *

><p>"Oh, you mean those kids?" The motel receptionist replied to the patrolman at her desk. "They'd paid for their rooms and left a while ago. Why would you be looking for them? Are they lost?" The policeman only bowed and left.<p>

Meanwhile, Touma jogged along the moonlit path, Lily still on his shoulders. "Thanks a bunch clothing-shop girl. But you can go now. Any more and…."

"Nah ah. Don't be like that. I'll get you to where you're going for sure! And don't call me clothing-shop girl. The name's Isis, okay?"

Touma slumped. "And then there were three. Geez though, it's been beyond dangerous in the last 24."

"We can at least say it wasn't boring." Steed replied.

As Lily just held on, confused by their mannerisms, Isis leapt into the air, her fist pumping. "So let's get moving as companions and great friends!"

"I am so screwed." Touma sighed again.

* * *

><p>The bridge door opened. Vivio and Einhart were sitting at their stations already, and turned to their captain, who had a resolute look on his face. "Take us into Slipstream. Our target has moved on by now. And they won't strike again so close to this dimension."<p>

"Target? Sora-nii, do we even have a target?"

"Yes, yes we do…" He swung into his seat. "We might run the risk of encountering TSAB, but it doesn't matter. We need the Book of the Silver Cross!"


	9. Chapter 9

Leyline Expedition Force 9

The Ruella Mine scene was lit up by magical field generators just before midnight. "The assault happened last night…." A crew of investigators combed through the facility. "As of right now, there are no casualties. The intruder had some type of lock-disabling magic, he waltzed right in without tripping an alarm." A small girl, once formerly a rival to Reinforce Zwei, turned to the side of good floated on her demon-like wings, her hands on her hips as she gave her report. "I don't think they're taking this investigation seriously. What's your opinion, Signum?"

"Ah, I agree Akito." The former knight of the Wolkenritter spoke, signaling her unison partner to her palm. Her TSAB uniform was hidden under a large overcoat that caught the breeze as they stared into the night sky. "But our mission remains the same: Secure the owner of the EC weapon: Divider." They stood at the emission point of the attack, seeing the four destroyed levels of the facility before reaching the stars. "Regardless of the handler, they must be controlled, by force if necessary."

"Well, no surprise you still hold to that ideal. That's what you suggested with Soran, too." The diminutive girl opened one eye.

"I won't dwell on that choice though. I'll never know if it was successful or not because of what happened." She balled her fist. "But this time will be different, because they see our position."

* * *

><p>In the valley not far from their location, a couple of hours later, a small fire was boiling some water in a kettle. "Mah, camping outside isn't bad every so often. This game of Chicken with those cops is kind of amusing too." Isis spoke matter-of-factly "So, just why are they after you anyway?"<p>

"Didn't I already say it? I have a feeling I know where they're pulling it from, but we didn't do anything wrong." Touma prodded the fire.

"So tell me already!" Isis flailed around in frustration. "We need to take care of each other! I want to know!"

In a surprise move, it was Lily that went forward, taking her hand gently. 'Isis, Touma helped me. He isn't the one at fault like they say.'

"Oh… ok, so that's how it is…." She gulped as she thought to herself. 'This telepathy? No, it's almost like some kind of kinesis…'

"Allow me to explain." Steed stepped in.

"Geez, not you too…." Touma grumbled.

"She was found, imprisoned in an illegal facility. After hearing her cries for help, we infiltrated the building. After our detection, we took down the leader of the operation."

It silenced Lily and Isis in thought. "Well, it's true that we destroyed a part of the facility, and took Lily away." Touma poured himself a drink. "However, running away won't last us forever. We need to get to the Church where I can send a message to someone I trust. Su-chan and Soran-san are from TSAB, so they'll know what to do, and who to talk to."

"If you've done nothing wrong, then why don't you just tell the cops?" Isis asked.

"If the guys from the facility managed to report me, those patrols won't listen to anything I say.

"Good point."

"Once we've got Lily somewhere safe, then we'll have time to think about the other issues."

"She'll scold you, you realize." Steed interjected.

"Shaddup, my mind's already steeled for that."

"This 'Su-chan' your girlfriend? An older sister?" Isis took the pot of water next as Touma broke open the cocoa packs.

"More like the latter I guess. We're not blood related, but she and her boyfriend looked after me for a long time. I owe them half my life." He handed a cup to Lily. "Watch out, it's hot." As Lily lovingly took in the scent, he turned back to Isis. "The last thing I wanted was for her to worry when I took this trip."

"I think I get that." The black-haired girl nodded. "I'm sorta that way myself. I took this trip selfishly, wanting to take a long break before continuing with school." She took a sip. "Speaking of that, you're about my age. Where's your education going?"

"I've got some really good references waiting for me." He shrugged it off.

"Haha. Magic academy then, since your powers are strong?"

"Huh? I thought mine were relatively low. I can only cast barriers or dispel."

"Really? You're pretty awesome, I gotta say. You don't even look tired after having Lily on your back all day. You'll make some girl really happy if you keep up that kind of endurance." She went off into her own dreamworld for a moment, her face in extacy, then a sweatdrop appeared, followed by a pale face, and then utter defeat. 'I give. No way I could keep up.'

'Touma, is it too much? I should walk on my own.' Lily began to realize the burden she was being.

"Nah, don't worry, you're light."

"Getting jealous over here, carry me too!"

"EH?"

Touma paused. 'That reminds me…'

"Hey Lily, are you uncomfortable at all in those clothes?" Isis checked her work on the outfit. "I can quickly hem it if you need."

Touma's brow lowered. 'I've run all this time, and I'm still not tired. The same thing happened during that magic attack I used. Not a single shred of recoil from that giant shot… that gunblade that fired it… what was it called?' "EC Divider?" He whispered it aloud inadvertently. The bracelet gleamed on his arm and the bizarre weapon appeared in his hand, sending his cup sprawling across the grass. "Huh?"

"_Set up._" It said as a black book appeared in his other hand.

Isis quivered in fear as she grabbed Lily. "W-w-what's that thing? I'm opposed to violence, you know! I'm opposed to weapons!"

"Wait, hold on! Let me explain!" Touma was doing a poor job of defending himself, waving the weapon around like a madman.

"Don't just say to me that it came out on its own! What the heck is that?"

'Touma… try saying "Blade Off". I think it may disappear.' Lily interjected quickly.

"Really? Well… worth a shot. Blade off."

"_Blade Off._" It disappeared as quickly as it came.

Touma slumped, staring at his hand. "That surprised me…"

"That's supposed to be my line, damn it!" Isis shook her fist at him. "Was that supposed to be your Device or something?"

"Nah, my partner is this thing over here." He pointed to the floating camera eye.

"Yo."

"Hmm… Lily, you know anything about that thing?"

'No. Just how to take it out and put it back.' She sighed. 'I'm sorry, Touma.'

"Ah… don't worry about it."

"Perhaps it is related to the bracelet, and in turn, whatever that facility was researching." Steed pointed. "It may be a very potent weapon. You should take great care in using it."

"Good point." Touma gripped his wrist. "For now, let's rest until daybreak. We'll set of again then." The others reluctantly agreed. "I'll take watch, I'm all pumped up after that fiasco anyway. Sleep tight you two."

"All right."

'Unh…'

As they lay in their sleeping area, Touma laid his coat on top of them, and then stepped aside to talk with Steed in private. "You made quite the interesting friend today."

"'Friend' huh? She's a weird kid that's tagging along because she thinks we need help."

"I won't say it's false, however you seem to enjoy things more when someone's along for the ride."

"I wonder about that…." Touma looked up at the moon.

"With things as they are, this may be a good chance to end this trip."

"Oi, oi! I've decided what I want to find and how I'm gonna find it. Don't expect me to half-ass it just because of this."

"But you said it yourself. You have someone waiting for you."

Touma's brow lowered. "I've said it enough already. I need this chance." He balled his fist.

_A vista, broken in ruin. Rocks, trees, and wood lay in a swath of total destruction. A little boy, pinned by the wreckage, blood trickling down his face._ "That day, when everything changed. When the town was sent into the land of the dead, and everything important to me was demolished. The day the Vaizen mines crumbled…." _Two remained, standing without a scratch, a woman with long dark hair, and a man with short, lighter hair, each clad in black. The woman had a blue wing etched on her shoulder. _"They were there, in that place and time. They must have been the cause!"

Touma sighed as he pushed off the tree he was leaning on. "How many years has it been? And the official story ruled it as an accident. They never found a culprit, so I can't rule it out as an accident. But in spite of that, I don't buy it." He plopped down next to his camp equipment. "Should I know or stay ignorant to the truth? Should I forget that part of my past, or let it stick with me? I searched every record the Library had, and I still couldn't find anything. Books can only take you so far. The official word can only take you so far. That's what I realized, and that's why I left." Lily and Isis overheard every word, their eyes open, their hearts in despair.

"I wanted to find a chance to actually touch a piece of this case, put my foot into it and find the whole truth. A half a year should be all I need. If I can't find a lead, I'll give it up. I can't let Su-chan wait for me forever after all. Which reminds me, we've been pretty much doing all treasure hunting and sightseeing recently."

"In all fairness, that IS what you told Soran. It's what I'm programmed to do."

"I want what everyone else wants, really, to live a normal, peaceful life. But with this troubling my heart, how can I? Can you aid me in that, Steed?"

"Yes sir. I will make a patrol round. Please get some rest too." Steed flew off around the trail.

"Ah…" He turned towards the girls, noticing Lily staring at him. His gaze hit the dirt. "Sorry, I said some strange things back there."

'No, I was asleep. I don't think I heard anything.'

"Me too…" Isis mumbled.

"Really… well…" He sighed. "Arigatou." He was about to close his eyes when he noticed something. 'Wha?' He lifted the bracelet closer to his face as he observed a mark on his wrist he had never seen before. 'I don't remember getting a scratch there. It's all red…'

* * *

><p>Akito saluted to the screen in front of her. "Investigator Lanster, I am ready to submit my report."<p>

"Please do."

"Witnesses from within the facility identify the suspect as a young man in his late teens. After stealing both the EC Reactor and Book of the Silver Cross, a large portion of the facility was destroyed before making his escape. It's indeterminate if the damage was done to create an escape route, or for the sake of destroying it."

"Both angles could be played, really. Assume the damage was intentional for now. Take every precaution. Have there been any leads?"

"The villagers nearby have seen someone matching his description on the streets. We have local law enforcement gathering clues."

"I see. Do you think this should be presented to Colonel Hayate for the Huckbein file?"

"Even lacking definite proof, as is the case here, it doesn't really match the M/O." Akito held up the file. "Equipment left intact. Materials remained without signs of pillaging. The most damning factor is there have been zero casualties."

Tea rubbed her fingers together in thought. "That being said, it's possible that even if he isn't with Huckbein, Huckbein may be using him as a medium. The Divider and the Reactor together… maybe they meant for him to obtain it directly?"

"We'll know soon enough." Akito put her fist to her chest. "Once we secure him, we'll get the answers out of him one way or another."

Tea smiled. "Thank you, Akito. Just… try to keep it legal for most dimensions okay?"

"That's my job."

"I'll contact you through the secure channel from here on. Say hello to Captain Signum for me."

"You got it." The window closed and she flew off from the camp, meeting her commander at a cliff overlooking the mountains. "Report shugyo."

"Yosh." Her statement was sincere, but her face was plastered with concern.

"Something wrong?"

"No, nothing. Thanks again, Akito." She carried her gently in her palm as they descended towards the village. 'It's back again, that quivering in my chest. An evil wind is in the air, as if preparing to make this place a battleground….'

* * *

><p>The sun was high in the sky as Touma and his ragtag band reached the apex of the final hill. "I can see it! We finally made it!"<p>

"Wow, you're right." Isis peered forward. "No matter what world you're in, the Sankt Church always manages to stay the same."

"You've got a…" A breeze blew up from the church. "Point?" Touma's expression quickly changed for the worse. 'There's blood on the air… and sulfur.' He swallowed. "Steed, get these two somewhere safe, now!"

"Yokhai."

"Eh?" Isis turned in shock.

"Something's not right! I'll make sure it's clear, so for now get a safe distance away, both of you!" He yelled back to them.

"What the… Touma!" The black-haired one shook her fist at him.

He slid into the open door, which had been blown in. The halls were wrecked. Blood was splattered in patches, alongside bulletholes and slashmarks. "Th-this is…" He stepped forward slowly, following the damage, and the bodies of two nuns slumped lifeless along the wall. "Sisters…."

"Osoizo." A gruff male voice called into the hall. Touma stepped forward, into the congregation hall, where the pews were scattered and shattered. Stabbed into the pulpit was a shotgun with a blade attached under it. "Thanks to you, I had to kill unnecessarily, in this shithole no less." The man had neck-length light hair in spikes. His black jacket had fur on the neck and ridges. His black pants had a giant belt doubled over on itself, resting lazily on his hips, tied only to a long white lump of fur. His gloved hand reached out to Touma. "Listen up, kid. There's only one thing I want, the Divider and Reactor you stole. You have 'em, I need 'em. That's not a toy for a brat like you. Give!" The jolt when he shook his fist slid the cuff down his arm, revealing a winged tattoo.

Touma's eyes glassed over as he saw it. 'The blue wings…'

"Now then, if you wanna keep your blood in ya, hand them the fuck over!"

'The blue wings from Vaisen… I've been searching for them!' His teeth grit, and the gunblade appeared at his fingertips, primed to fire.

"_Start up._" It echoed.

"I have something to ask you beforehand. You, who killed the Sisters behind me, was it the same way?"

"Anh?" The man raised an eyebrow.

"Seven years ago, was the one who destroyed the Vaisen Mines you?"

"Tch, little jackass." He plucked his weapon from the pulpit and stood at full height. "I'll put your answer on a bullet!" He lowered it to Touma's level. "Go to hell, brat." A dark energy collected around the muzzle and blew forward in a colossal explosion.

In a burst of speed Touma burst from the dust to the side, brandishing the blade. "Shaaa!" One swing split the pulpit in half, just as his opponent kicked away. "Keh."

"Heh." The other smiled as he came down, clashing sword on sword, the shockwave between them sending wreckage in all directions.

Each leapt back a step. "_Silver Bullet_." Touma's Divider whispered as a magical ring encircled his gun.

"_Flechette._" The other's shotgun whispered as multiple projectiles appeared at the muzzle.

Both took the blast point blank. The older man laughed. "This is the most fun I've had in a while!" He stood none the worse for wear. Touma on the other hand, had taken a deep cut to his arm, barely able to lift his weapon. "Guess you're not some random unfortunate bastard, huh?" He rested his gun on his shoulder. "Tell me, you have a reason for taking that from those pricks?"

"It's not like I wanted it." Touma grunted as he raised the Divider. "I just wanted to save the girl."

"Girl… you mean the Strosek?"

"Yeah, that's her name."

The white-haired one snorted. "Heh. Heh. Haahahaha. Sou ka, sou ka!"

"Whatcha laughing for?"

"Because you don't know shit!" He snarled. "You've got no clue the value of what you have. And you 'saved' the accessory? What a joke!" He burst into laughter again. "Never in my life have I run across a kid this stupid!"

'Wh-what is with this guy?' Touma ground his teeth. 'Because I saved Lily? I bet he laughed while murdering those Nuns too, didn't he? And Vaizen? Did he laugh when he murdered them all?'

Touma switched the weapon to his good arm. "Stop laughing. I answered your question, now answer mine! At the Vaizen Mines, seven years ago…."

"What's that sonny?" He fired another shot. "I can't hear you over your dieing."

The dust scattered in a whirlwind, Touma's armored form revealing itself once again, the tattoos covering his body more prominent than before. "Was it you, or your group, who destroyed my home? Using that weapon in your hand?"

"Looks like you really want an answer." He cocked another shot.

Outside, the church looked like it was sitting on a fault line. "Another blast?" Isis gasped as Lily went to her knees.

'T-Touma.' She gasped, dark circles appearing under her eyes.

"Steed, watch over Lily for now, please."

"What? But…"

"I can't leave this alone! He might need help!" As she sped down the hill, no one seemed to notice the book that slowly materialized behind Lily.

The hall was peppered with explosions. "Answer me!" Touma clashed in every cloud of smoke. "Tell me the truth!"

"You've got one thing wrong kid. When you're looking for the answer to something." A clawed hand coalesced on his left hand and drew him to an inch away. "You say please. Napalm Fangu!" An explosive flame spread forth from his palm, consuming Touma's Divider before wrapping around him. He slid back, Touma's burnt skin and blood sent into the air. "What's wrong? Don't tell me you're done after that!"

Touma raised his head, his eyes coated in a gray mist as he cried out in a silent scream. "_Silver Hammer._" Magical circles surrounded his gun, his arm, and even behind his back, reverberating in emense power that sent him gasping. Releasing the shot bathed the world in white, tearing the back wall completely off.

Isis gasped as she ran through the wreckage, dodging falling debris.

"Tch. Well that's boring, I'm outta ammo." The man didn't even have a scratch. "You're about out yourself, am I right?" Touma's battle outfit was slowly fading, his shoulders and head limp as he stood there. "Oi, jou-chan. You with him?" Isis put herself between Touma, who had reverted to his civilian form, and the enemy. "Hmm? When he wakes up, tell the brat 'His life and Divider are in my hands for now.'" He stretched as he looked at the gaping hole in the room. "If he has an idea who did that thing with the Mine, and wants to know more, have him come to me, Veyron of the Huckbein-hen."

Isis stood there until he was out of sight. The boy behind her pitched forward, and landed with a hard thud. "Touma!" She gasped as she picked him up. His eyes were open, but glazed. "Touma, speak to me! Say something! Anything! Wake up! Touma! TOUMA!"


	10. Chapter 10

Leyline Expedition Force 10

In a remote, forested area of Ruwella, the Star sat camouflaged by the trees. Cries of female martial artists echoed through the foliage from a nearby clearing. Both Vivio and Einhart were sparring in their adult forms, as one of Gillium's cans watched over them from the sidelines.

Vivio rushed forward, taking the fight as close as possible. Her brow was determined, and Soran's words rang in her ears.

"_The Book of the Silver Cross, this is the Lost Logia we need to find." Soran showed them both the image. "As a Lost Logia, Silver Cross may have the final piece of the puzzle to find the Leyline, but the difficulty of getting it is the problem. The people who hold these are dangerous criminals, infected with something called Eclipse. Not much is known about it, but we know it generates an insatiable bloodlust. The Huckbein Family has taken the blame for a number of mass murders. Hayate and I were investigating this before we went AWOL."_

_He slid them another photo. "This is the second half, the EC Divider. It's both a gun and blade, and it's proven to be powerful in both close and long range combat. This weapon is also known as the Mage Killer."_

_Vivio gulped. "Mage… Killer…."_

"_Ah. Any magical attack is immediately nullified upon impact with the user or weapon. This also applies for magical barriers too." Soran clenched his hands together. "Section 6 isn't fighting for justice, they're fighting for their lives." Soran sighed as he stood up. "But we do have an advantage right now against them. You two are both strike arts users. Meaning you use magic to enhance your own attacks, not specifically to emit magical attacks. Closing the gap will render the gun useless, leaving only bladed combat. Vivio, that's your job."_

"_Eh?"_ Einhart sent out magical orbs simulating bullet shots. Vivio slipped and dashed and dodged, getting closer each step. _"We need an infighter. Someone who can get in close and quickly do damage. I'll upgrade Kris and Teo as best as I can to give you some extra speed and defense, but count on your own ability to get you through to zero barrier. Force him to use that sword."_

"_Captain, I should be doing that." Ein raised her hand._

"_And on that, I disagree."_

Vivio was within striking range, and pulled a hard kick aimed straight for her head. Einhart looked at it without moving.

"_Stratos, do you remember what you did against that sword user in the last competition?"_

_She nodded. "I caught the blade with one hand, while using the other to take the final strike."_

_Soran agreed. "You don't fear pain or physical harm. You'll sacrifice parts of your own body just to make sure you get a victory. It's an admirable trait for martial arts, but that's exactly what you have to unlearn."_

"_Eh?"_

"_If you try that against a Divider, your hand and your head would have come off. You need to learn how to dodge."_

Stratos ducked, sliding under the foot and pushing back until she had enough distance for another barrage. _"Victory against a Mage Killer isn't about defeating, it's about surviving. This is an enemy that has extremely tough skin, and can regenerate broken and even vaporized parts. Defeating just one may be impossible, if their regeneration and bloodlust is infinite. But that's not what we need. We need to get that book, even for a half second, and get that poem from the Leyline inside."_

The two girls collapsed to the ground, exhausted. Soran's voice still echoed fresh in their minds. "One… one more time, Ein-chan. We can't… give up yet."

"Unh."

* * *

><p>Soran held a power tool in his right hand as he worked on his left, wincing every time he had to make an adjustment or tweak. "Gillium, change absorption rate to 200 parts per million per second."<p>

"_That will make the mode duration last a maximum of 5 minutes._" The pink can typed into Divine Trinity's command prompt.

"All I need is one good strike."

"_You do realize that without field testing, this entire setup is all theory. The chance of it failing…_"

"Is irrelevant. You know as well as I do it's too dangerous to field test it on anyone but a Mage Killer. We have to use everything we've got to our advantage. I've already upgraded Trin's mobility and defense as far as I can, and you're installing the upgrades into Teo and Kris right now…." He looked over at two small tanks, where the bunny and kitten were curled up in shutdown mode, a Gillium can watching over their status. "We need to focus on doing damage now, and I'm the only one that's done actual damage, but in a very inefficient way. That needs to change." Soran lowered his brow as he closed up his arm's casing. "The next time, escape may not be an option."

Gillium raised up. "_Captain, the secure line just went live."_

* * *

><p>Two TSAB offroad vehicles screamed down the forest road. "The Sankt Church emergency lines are dead!" The radio echoed.<p>

"Secondary report: Residents witnessed something similar to a magical beam launching into the sky."

"So it shows itself." Akito scowled, balling her tiny fist.

"But we were off a step. I hope we won't see casualties." Signum whispered under her breath.

* * *

><p>"Yo, Vey-ni! Ooooiiiiii!" A motorcycle that the burly man with the gunblade approached had a vidwindow open. A girl with a light open vest and a bare midriff had her hands on her hips. Her happy-go-lucky expression was framed by her long, splayed out hair, topped by a pair of shaded goggles on her head.<p>

"Aru huh? What's up?" He sighed as he checked his ride.

"Manage to get that Divider yet? Nee-chan wants an update."

"I've got the serial number and the owner. That'll have to suffice for now."

"Eh? You fought him? You killed him, right?"

"Iiya." Veyron mounted his bike with a chuckle, starting it up. "His body is consumed by Eclipse. He's also got some kinda beef with me. If we leave him be, he'll reappear."

The viewer expanded to reveal others in the room. A man with dark spiked hair, dressed like a martial artist, a little blonde girl that belonged in primary school, and a woman that looked like a gravure idol, with a patch over one eye. It was the last that spoke. "Vey and his annoying habits again…. And if TSAB get their mitts on him and take him away?"

"Don't worry about it. He's the same as us." Veyron drove off. "He'll have no choice but to answer the call."

* * *

><p>'Touma.'<p>

"Touma!"

The boy opened his eyes to see two girls fawning over him in concern. "Kgh…" He winced.

"Are you all right, Touma?" Steed also asked.

"My head… Somehow I'll live…" His brain throbbed with a massive migrane.

'Touma.' Lily reached out to caress his cheek, tears in her eyes. 'I'm so sorry.'

"What's the apology for? I'll be fine." It didn't satisfy her, and she sobbed as he rubbed her head. "Oh, Isis… I should be the one apologizing to you. You must've carried me back here, right?"

"Don't worry about that. You were light enough."

"We are all relieved that you are relatively unharmed." Steed floated next to her.

"Gotta say you were pretty lucky though." Isis waggled her finger. "You got off with a light wound even after all that nonsense."

At those words a shock ran up Touma's spine, staring at his bandaged arm. Without explaining, he unwrapped the bandage. "Oi! You should keep… eh?!"

Everyone stared at his bare arm, not a scratch or blemish on it. 'How did… I'm healed?'

"Touma, what's with your right hand?"

He shifted his gaze to his other hand. 'That mark has… expanded!' The red scrawl hidden by his bracelet had stretched partly down his forearm, splitting off into different streams, in an almost artistic tattoo.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, at TSAB HQ. "Ah, we just warped in about a half hour ago. There were no problems with customs, thanks to us dropping your name."<p>

"Really? That's good to hear." Hayate was on the other line of a vidwindow. "Thanks again for coming, even from so far out. It must have been difficult."

"Not at all." A pink-haired girl smiled.

"As of today, we accept our transfer to your squad, Colonel." A tall young man with spiked red hair nodded to her. Deep from the land of Alzas, Dragon Summoner Caro ru Lushe, and Dragon Rider Erio Mondial had returned. Caro stood there with a confidence she lacked in Section 6, her hair grown slightly longer, almost adopting one of Vita's styles for growing it out. However her height remained nearly the same, something that her former rival, Lutecia Alpine, tended to remind her of whenever they saw each other. Erio, on the other hand, had shot up a good foot and a half, his looks matured, and his eyes sharpened. He wore his uniform proudly, with the respect of his peers and superiors at his back.

"Unh. Thank you both." Hayate nodded. We've yet to sort out some cases. Please head over as soon as possible. The Huckbein and Eclipse are a heap of trouble. We need to clamp down on them before they attack an administrated sector. Please lend us your strength."

"Roger!" They saluted.

"R&D has been hard at work to counteract the Zero Effect that they use."

"Commander Vita already briefed us on that." Erio mentioned. "And of those two as well."

* * *

><p>On the other side of the dimensional port, a blue-haired woman was carting along her carry-on. "Today I rejoin the search team." She grinned to herself.<p>

"Subaru Nakajima!"

"Hai!" She turned towards the voice happy, but immediately found herself surrounded by police. "By order of TSAB, I must place you under arrest. Will you submit?"

"Under what charge?"

"I am not at liberty to say. I ask again, will you submit?"

"Yes, of course, with the demand that I learn what I am charged with, and who has submitted the charges within the hour." She thrust her wrists forward, a scowl on her face.

The MP slapped triple-ringed cuffs on her. "Please note that I take no pleasure in doing this. I'm aware of your exemplary service record. Please follow me."

Nanoha rounded the corner, panting, only to see her being ushered into an armored vehicle. "Damn it, I'm too late!"

* * *

><p>"To all residence, this is an important announcement." A Ruwella loudspeaker boomed. "An unknown party has assaulted the Sankt Church after morning mass. The three resident Sisters were killed by the assailants. Those within the city are to report any suspicious movement to authorities immediately!" Police began passing out fliers. "Many things such as the motive and number of attackers are still unknown. If you have any information regarding this, please come forward. As of now we are instituting checkpoints on all major roadways. Please understand that this is for your own safety."<p>

Isis stared at the flier, crumpling it slightly at the sight of Touma's clothes. 'I knew it. They're shoving the blame on him.' She looked down at her grocery bag, wondering how she could get out of the city undetected.

Touma was sweating heavily, attended to by Lily as Steed scanned him. "His temperature has stopped rising. It is holding at 39.6 degrees Celsius." Lily held back tears as she rung out the towel, placing it in a bucket of water and placing it on his forehead.

"_Why is… my head just won't stop pounding." He groaned._

"_Touma?" Isis put her hand on his forehead. "You're burning up! Lie down! Lie down right now!"_

_After making sure he was secure, the two girls grabbed buckets and headed to the nearest water source. 'It's my fault….' Lily whispered._

"_Where'd that come from?" Isis countered._

'_The men in lab coats said I was a poison.' Her tears streamed down her cheeks. "A poison that will kill anyone I come near. Touma was fine after the contact, so it had to have been a lie… but now I know. I've killed him!'_

"_Don't say that, Lily!" She grasped her shoulders tightly, refusing to let go even as she resisted. "There's no proof that you did this! Whatever they said in that place cannot be trusted. Touma would say the same thing if he were standing here. You know it. I know it. Besides, I need you right now. Touma needs food and medicine, and you two can't risk being seen. Watch over him, and I'll get the supplies, ok?"_

'_Unh…' Lily whispered, her head down._

Isis scanned the town. 'Though I said all that, Touma's illness, coupled with what Lily said, it might not be unrelated. If that's the case, then that facility was a biological weapon R&D. Lily became the weapon, and Touma the victim. Assuming anyone finds them, they might be shot on sight by the locals. TSAB would lock them away and throw away the key. Game over either way.' She sighed as she stared at her reflection in an apple. 'Crap, and then I get deported too. I always liked sticking my nose into troublesome things for fun, but this is a bit much to risk my life for without any end in sight.' She tossed it in the air. 'Why am I even sticking around, besides the interest? Should I really say goodbye now that it's come this far?'

Their smiling faces flashed in front of her eyes. 'What a shitty way to think.' The apple landed in her hand. 'I can barely make friends my age normally, let alone out here. I might even have some fun covering their asses. If I can keep them alive, then no one will find out about me. Unh!' She nodded as she increased her pace.

* * *

><p>"Yo, I made it." Veyron waltzed into the Huckbein residence with a beer can in his hand.<p>

Aru swung a turkey leg in the air. "Bout time, Vey-nii!" Splayed across the floor were dozens of plates of food. Nearly lost in the mass of mess was the little girl, holding a whole ham. "You bring back some goodies? Got some food?"

"Shut up. And don't talk with your mouth full." He grunted, crossing his arms. "If you're talking supplies, I jacked a catering truck."

"Sweet. As your reward, here's a new dildo for ya." She shoved a lobster in his face.

"As if I want that. It's half eaten with your drool all over it anyway."

"You've got no sense of humor as usual." The little girl gave Veyron's leg a loving squeeze as she continued, the lobster tail shoved in her mouth. "By the way, Fortis and Ville-nii sent word. Check your ass in when you get here."

"Then tell em' 'If you need something, your ass better be here in person.'" He left with the little one in tow.

"Aight, I'll tell em. It's all a bunch of ass to me anyway."

"Stella, about the rations. I'll leave the management of it to you. Keep that dipshit out of the fridge."

"Unh!" She saluted as she trotted off.

"Veyron." A young man that was dressed almost like a priest intercepted him, with the martial artist behind him. "Welcome home. That was quite a long trip."

"Quit your griping, I got the resupply done."

"So I see. For that, I'm grateful." He smiled. "I wanted to share some interesting news with you."

"Hah?"

"It looks as though the TSAB Special Forces have moved out. It's an elite division encompassing aces from air, ground, and marine forces, the same ones who went against the Sankt Cradle six years ago."

"That so…?" Vey smirked. "Coming to try and crush us again? What a worthless effort."

"Even if securing the Divider is their number one priority, we're most likely secondary targets, for arrest at the very least." The large one said.

"So essentially we're a side quest in their little game. They're not taking us seriously. They should already know how futile this little venture is." Vey tossed his can to the priest, who immediately crushed it in his hands.

"That's only because they're stuck in that gilded cage known as 'organization.'" He tossed what was left into the air. "These worlds rely on mages as their mainstay fighting force. And with the Divider in our hands, they cannot touch the Huckbein." He put his hand to his chin. "That being said, we need to find yours soon. You're the only one left that doesn't have one."

"Don't need it."

"_Start up._"

"928 is better than any gun I've ever had." Veyron grinned as he called out his gun.

"That's all well and good, a Divider being its own exceptional weapon, however with the Reactor…"

"'It becomes the poison that will kill the world.' I know that one already." Vey scoffed.

"That's the way Karen sees it at least."

"I don't really give a shit about that." He put the blade away. "By the way, I haven't seen Cypha."

"She decided to go herself. She wanted to confirm something with her own eye."

* * *

><p>The sun began to set between the mountains, and Touma still had not regained consciousness. "As long as his temperature remains steady, he should be fine." Steed spoke to Lily. "I will conduct patrol rounds. Pursuers would be detrimental to his state."<p>

'Okay. Sorry for this, Steed.' She sighed.

"Forgive me, but could you please vocalize? Your telekenisis is not being received."

'Sorry, but…'

"Appologies." He bowed. "Insufficient capability. I will return."

"Su… chan…" Touma muttered in his sleep.

'_Why don't I remember? Has it been so long that I've forgotten most of the mining town? I remember… life was rough. There were always tough days to deal with. But they continued to live… continued to smile. We were all that way, even me. But… on that day… they were all destroyed. No way it was an accident. It had to be them, without a doubt._

'_Why don't I remember? The year I spent alone, sworn to avenge them all. Why do I start to remember, only when she was there? Su-chan, Soran-san, Tea-san, and the other Nee-sans, why do I remember so vividly?'_

"_Touma, once you're ready, we should be a family." Subaru said to him, her hand outstretched._

'_Please, let me put my old life behind me. So I can be with them!'_

"_Your Divider and Reactor, hand them over!"_

'_Why was he there? Why did he appear? Why did I have to find out the truth?!'_

"_Why are you trying to destroy it?" The barrier jacketed Touma appeared. "No. Before that memory is destroyed, before it's scattered to the winds, before then… I will come to kill you all!"_

The boy leapt out of bed, landing on his hands and knees, panting, sweating, his eyes not completely conscious. 'Touma?! Touma. Touma!' Lily's words couldn't reach him. 'Steed! Isis! Help, someone!' She bit her lip. 'What do I do? It won't reach them….' Touma's body quaked as he vomited violently. She held onto him in desperation. 'Why won't my words reach you? Please hear me!'

"Leave him alone." A figure emerged from the shadows, the woman with the eye patch. "This is his metamorphosis, into an Eclipse Driver." She took a japanese sword from her hip. "Once you and he join, it will be complete."

'Eclipse… Driver?'

"Hmm? You damaged? The fact you forget your duty as a Reactor Plug…" She drew the sword from the scabbard. "That boy is required. However a damaged Plug is useless. Step away." Lily held her place even tighter. "Your judgement function is broken as well I see." Cypha raised her hand, poised to strike.

"Chain Bind!" A summoned chain wrapped around the girl's arm. "Everyone freeze!" A diminutive girl with demon wings called out.

"By the authority of Section Six of TSAB, under the charges of possession of dangerous items and perpetrating acts of extreme violence." Signum floated in the sky next to her. "I hereby place you all under arrest."

"A mage, huh? Iiya, a knight." Cypha smirked as she tugged her arm, breaking the chain effortlessly. "I guess that little one is a fusion device, am I right?"

"I have ordered you not to move. If you take so much as one step, your life is forfeit, regardless of your affiliation." Signum's hand went to her hilt.


	11. Chapter 11

Leyline Expedition Force 11

Subaru sat, chained to the table in an interrogation room in TSAB Headquarters. The AMF suppression field weighed down her shoulders. She stared at her cuffs, knowing her Oscillating Breaker could easily destroy them, but knew well enough not to, as there were innumerable people outside ready to take her out if she resisted. Her one hour window had long passed without hearing a word, and she could think of no reason why she would be held for this long for any reason.

The doorknob turned slowly, and she steeled herself to whatever may enter through it. A slender female hand snapped, and the cuffs fell open. "There's no way you could have known."

Subaru rubbed her wrists as the door shut. "Nanoha-san!"

She gave a sad smile as she sat down in front of her. "Fate-chan is working on processing your release papers right now, so we have a quick second to talk."

"Nanoha-san, what's going on? I was called back to HQ to join Section 6 again, and immediately get ambushed."

"Unh, I know. I tried to intercept you before they got to you, but I was too late."

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No." She shook her head. "It's not you, it's someone you know…" She lowered her head and sighed before raising it up, her lip bit. "Soran's gone AWOL."

"Eh?!" Subaru rubbed her engagement ring without thinking.

"They're keeping a lot of the details hidden, even from us, but he broke out of this same building…" Nanoha clenched her teeth. "With Vivio's help."

"Nanoha-san… wait, what? That…" A tear rolled down her cheek. "That can't be true. Why? Why would he…."

* * *

><p>"If you take so much as one step, your life is forfeit, regardless of your affiliation." Signum's hand went to her hilt.<p>

"Heh." Cypha smirked as she stared up at her. "If you say things like that, then I can't look at you as a public servant at all."

"Do not make me say it again." She drew Laeventin.

"_Explosion._" It cocked a cartridge, consuming the blade in flames.

"Disarm and surrender yourself."

"Fire-type conversion. Well, this just got a lot more interesting. Oi, damaged plug…" She called to the blonde over her shoulder. "Watch and learn. If you do, you should remember what your true purpose is. But if you want to live, stay there. TSAB has no issue with erasing the likes of you. I won't be your babysitter when the fighting starts." She leapt into the air, meeting Signum at her level. "Well then, I seem to have changed position, and I still have my weapon. Your move, public servant."

Without a word, Signum charged forward, brandishing her flaming sword. It clashed against the woman's dark blade in sparks.

"A dangerous criminal is currently engaging a TSAB officer outside of Mihren." A loudspeaker boomed from local traffic cars cruising the streets. "The criminal is armed and extremely dangerous. Due to the possibility of extreme damage, we are instituting an immediate emergency situation alert. Please evacuate to the nearest bunker and clear the streets. They will be sealed off immediately. Follow the instructions of your nearest officer if you need assistance."

Isis watched from a cliff as it echoed, her fist balled. 'All this commotion, is it Touma and Lily trying to make a getaway? Or maybe that thorny dude from before? Or worse, maybe he called backup?!' She broke into a run. 'I have no clue if it's even something we're involved in directly, but I know one thing. Right here and now, two people I've let into my life are in major trouble!' Without fear, Isis took a running leap off the cliff.

'Kgh.' Signum's blade quivered against Cypha's. 'To say this opponent is strong… I feel like I'm dueling Soran all over again. So then…'

The two of them broke apart. "_Schlagenform._" Laeventin separated into bits connected by wire.

'Whip?' Cypha gasped. 'Iiya, a chain blade?' Signum's blade blurred as it flew around her field of vision. 'So fast… The tip of that sword, I can't…' She tilted her head to the side just as the final piece skimmed across her cheek, drawing blood. 'Close one!'

"_Schwertform._" It called as it reverted.

"Field effect analysis complete! We can do it, Signum!" Akito cried.

"Then come, Akito!"

"Roger!" They bumped fists. "Unison IN!"

'Uh?!' Lily gasped as the woman was consumed in spiraling flame.

It burst apart, Signum's Unison Armor glowing, the flames coalescing into four wings on her back. "Before we continue, a question. Is that sword a Divider type?" She lowered her brow. "You're affiliated with the Huckbein, correct?"

"Ah, 944 is exactly as you say. I was one of the first recruits of the Huckbein family." She exposed the tattoo of the blue wings on her neck. "So you have some kind of connection to us, I assume."

"The… culling… of Unadministrated Sector 14 three months ago. The people slaughtered there, 67 civilians and 12 military garrison. Do you remember that day?"

"So you have something like that in your mind?"

"I have visited that place more than once. A peaceful, tranquil land. Gentle pioneers who had nothing and wanted nothing. Yet they were subject to your massacre?!"

"I will admit it wasn't our intent to have innocent deaths, but a need arose. However, you should rejoice. You stirred the memory back. The one who left no woman, no child, alive that day, undoubtedly stands before you."

A blink of an eye, a rage that could not be bound, Signum's sword unleashed an attack that the assailant couldn't avoid, blowing her back before she even heard Signum's voice. Reacting wasn't an option as she appeared above Cypha, her sword pulled back. "SHIDEN ISSEN!" Laeventin was engulfed in an inferno as it came down square on her shoulder. The impact shot the Huckbein straight into the ground, an impact crater spreading below her.

'Yatta ka?' Akito whispered from inside.

"Not yet. We still have to capture her. Akito, it's your show now."

'Ouh!'

Signum swallowed. 'That sensation…' Klink. A crack appeared on her blade.

'Laeventin is…'

She analyzed it carefully. 'That sword isn't a solid defensive weapon. This damage was caused by impacting her body.' Her mind flashed back to what Reinforce had shown her back during Soran's encounter.

"What an awesome force." Cypha grunted, gripping her right shoulder, a bloody stump. "My Divide couldn't cancel it all after all." She tensed her missing muscle. "If my body were still human, I'd be dead." She grunted as her arm regenerated with a sickening squelch. She stood up and flexed her restored wrist. "In any case, it's been a while since I've had a fight as good as this."

'Deh… she's still moving?!'

"Ah. Seems that way…" Signum stared at the crater.

'Yosh, capture system setup complete. We just need to stay in contact for zero point two seconds to bind her!'

"Then it's my turn." Laeventin began to blaze again.

"Oi, knight-san! You know those pioneers you were talking about? I killed less than ten with this sword." She plucked the dark blade out of the rubble.

'H-her arm has…'

"She has regeneration like that girl too. A mid-stage Eclipse infection was rumored to cause that."

She pulled out a small knife. "The rest were victims of this one here."

"_Engage Koenig 944._" Cypha violently stabbed the blade into the palm of her other hand, which absorbed it as she smirked. "_React._" The crater was consumed in a swirling energy field. As it faded, she revealed herself holding twin blades with spiked hilt guards. The one in her left held a magical gem, the one on the right held a gun's barrel.

"Behold the start-up mode of EC weapon Divider 944, Koenig Reacted. The poison that will kill the world." Signum stood her ground as she rose into the sky once again. "The swords I wield slay mages. If you think you can stop it, then please do."

"Egh…" Isis burst through the bushes below. "Lily! Touma!"

'Isis!' Lily gasped, Touma still hunched over.

"Thank God. Are you okay? We need to get out of here while their attention is set on each other!"

'But Touma is… and Steed hasn't….'

"It's okay, I've already run into Steed." She gave a thumbs up. "He's looking for an escape route right now. It's too dangerous to stay here. We've gotta bail! I know Touma's hurt, but we can think about rest after we get to a safe place!"

'But… even so…'

"Lily! Don't give me any of that right now!" She grabbed her cheeks. "You've known Touma longer than me! You know that right now, you have to keep your wits about you! Get it together!"

'U-unh…'

Isis grabbed Touma's limp arm and swung it over her shoulder. "Okay, then let's go. Hang in there, Touma. Lily, grab his bags.

"Hrngh!" Touma slid away, almost like an animal being cornered. His body shook, wracked with pain as he rose, screaming into the night air.

"About time that boy woke up." Cypha scoffed. "Now that he's awakened, he's become one of us. I'll be taking him back with me, understand?"

* * *

><p>Subaru stood on the viewing deck after their emergency dimensional shift to Vaizen. She gripped Mach Caliber tightly in her fingers as tears rolled down her cheeks.<p>

"The major suspect of the Divider and Reactor robbery, in addition to the destruction of the facility, is this boy." Rein handed the Numbers a sheet of paper.

"This is… Touma! The resemblance is too close!" One of them gasped.

"Did you tell Subaru?" Cinque asked flatly.

"I didn't have much choice. Her world was turned upsidedown enough already ~desu." Rein sighed. "It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do ~desu."

"What did she say?"

"'I have to see it for myself.' ~desu."

"Soran…. Touma…"

* * *

><p>"Touma, let's go together."<p>

'The first time I felt warmth, was when I took her hand. The first time I had a family, was joining them. I should have taken it right then and there. But it never felt right to obtain it. The memory of Vaizen was just too much. I wanted an answer, no matter how it came, before I could bathe myself in that happiness. Before I could lead a normal life.'

'Chigau.' Veyron sneered at a young Touma, the Divider at his feet. 'That happiness would never last. The family you sought would never be your paradise, because you know your true nature. You loathe those that destroyed the one place you belonged.' He reached out and lifted the boy up by his neck. 'Didn't you swear? Release all the hate you've been collecting all these years! Eye for an eye and all that.' He pulled back and tapped his heart. 'True justice is the passion of hate. Hatred is your true pleasure, and you will drown in it for eternity!'

"GYEAAAAAAAHHHH!" Touma stood, screaming as the Divider coalesced in his hand, the entire forest shaking in an ominous energy.

"Hnh." Cypha sneered. "My turn to ask a question. One infected by Eclipse can never be cured. Will that kid still be able to live in your world? What will you do, Public Servant? Will you kill him as well as me, who offers him the only place he can find peace? We do not abandon our own. He would have a home. He has been infected with the same disease as the rest of us, meaning he has an intense hatred for this world, and so he has become one of us."

Touma stepped forward, his eyes glazed, the tattoos consuming his body. His barrier jacket had changed, with armored chest plates and hip guards, solid boots that looked like they could kill themselves. Divider had morphed into a giant, serrated blade, and his left arm had a cutter mounted on his wrist. The Book of the Silver Cross circled around him, as if a guardian. He turned to the girls with a rabid look, who held each other in abject fear.

* * *

><p>"Da fuq?!" Vita ran down the halls of the Vaizen TSAB testing lab. "Signum is in the middle of combat?! Her equipment ain't even done yet!"<p>

"The Huckbein was in her investigation area ~desu. Confrontation was unavoidable ~desu."

"Tell me we've got clearance to sortie!"

"Still in the works. The flagship may as well, depending on the situation ~desu." Rein was monitoring all channels from her interface. "The Enforcer team is on their way ~desu. What about the AEC upgrades Shari was working on?"

"My 03 is up. Subaru's 07's been enabled. However Nanoha's 00 and 02 are…"

"Driver optimization is clear." The tech's voice echoed in Nanoha's ear. "Response time error margin is minimized to zero point zero two." The girl held a large blue and white gun in her left hand, almost similar to a Gundam's beam cannon. A closer inspection showed that it was her original staff, inverted and surrounded by armor, however the central mechanism was now a cannon barrel instead of Raising Heart's crystal. Anyone seeing it for the first time would wonder how she could even lift it at all. "CW-AECO2X Strike Cannon Finalization OK."

RH floated on her gravity wings next to her. "_The Cannon made it in time. I want to fine-tune Fortress a little more._"

"Unh." Nanoha nodded. "Well, since you and I are the only ones who can use 00 up front, we'll be long distance for a while."

A klaxon ran through the base. "Commander Takamachi, emergency situation declared. Scramble. Scramble."

"Eh?!" She looked up. "Put me through to Section 6 HQ!"

* * *

><p>'Two Eclipse infected… both in possession of Dividers…' Signum surveyed the situation. 'I can't waste this chance. They must both be secured!' Her silent monologue ended. 'Akito, release unison. Take the young one below.'<p>

'Y-yokhai. But I'm queueing up a reserve spell on a time lag for you.'

'Make it a Flame Bullet on the left, and a Capture Ring on the right.'

'Got it.'

"Unison Release!" Signum's original armor returned in a flash of light, as Akito dove away. Fireballs launched from her left wrist.

Cypha smirked without fear as she pointed her sword forward. The energy destabilized as it approached, leaving not a single ember. The failed attack served as a distraction as Signum closed in swinging down as Cypha lifted her left arm to block. Laeventin dodged past the girl's blade and hilt guard, sinking in just under her wrist. "Well that's a shame." She said, unfazed. Laeventin shattered from the impact, leaving Signum weaponless and defenseless. "Once Reacted, blades and magic are nothing to us."

'I knew this was a possibility. But I had to try.' Signum gritted her teeth. 'To test my mettle against that juggernaut….'

"Now that you understand the futility of your actions, you can die." Two slashes penetrated Signum's armor, marring her body in a giant, bloody X as she fell from the sky.

"Signum!" Akito gasped.

"Oh right, there was a spare, wasn't there?" She raised her right hand blade, charging up and firing a jagged blast.

"Nan-…" She was consumed.

"Farewell… or should that be die well, public servant. The first round of the duel, I give to you, however the second could only have been my victory." She raised her left sword into the air, staring down at the bloody mess below. "Your death will act as a message to those pursuing us… as to the foolishness of the effort!" She hurled the sword straight for her to deliver the final blow. She began to turn away. "Now then, how do I get that…" SHKRING! Cypha paused, slowly turning back as her thrown sword arced in the air, embedding itself into the dirt. "Uh!"

A tall figure stood over Signum's body, a hand at her neck, checking for a pulse. "To finish a chivalrous knight with such a cowardly blow…." His face rose to the sky in an angry determination.

"Kgh!" Cypha's hair stood on end. "K-Kisama!"

"Kimi o..." Soran's teeth gritted. "Sasenai!"


End file.
